Possession
by shadrougeforever
Summary: The sequel to Saving Me. After when Vector is away, Shadow takes over as leader of the Chaotix and strange things begin to happen. They run into a new ally, The Villains have returned, blood thirsty monsters are running around the city, and Shadow begins to act strangely. In the end, they'll have to work together to find out who the real enemy is. CHAP 17 UP
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

**STEPPING INTO THE UNKNOWN**

It was a bright and early morning on Angel Island. The birds were chirping and there was a barely a cloud in the sky.

A red male echidna wearing a green short sleeved hoodie, a light blue shirt, blue baggy denim shorts, green cuffs around his ankles, and red and yellow shoes was walking around the dense forest with a pink female echidna. He looked over to her while the two were walking together. "Are you sure you heard something around here, Julie?"

The pink echidna who was walking with him was wearing a black and green vest, black pants, and green boots. "I know I did. There's something weird around here, Knuckles."

The red echidna rolled his eyes as he didn't believe her. "There's nothing around here. All there is is a load of trees, trees, and more trees."

"Oh yeah? Then what do you call that?"

He saw her pointing her finger in front of them. He looked and saw an old ancient building surrounded by vines and trees. He placed a finger to his chin. "Looks like some old ruins." He turned to Julie, "I definitely don't recall running into this before." He saw her walking towards the destroyed building.

"Let's take a look around."

He didn't believe how reckless she was acting. He was thinking if something dangerous was inside. If so, he wasn't prepared for her to go alone. "Wa-wait a minute, Julie!" He ran in after her.

Once the two were inside, it was so dark they could barely see each other.

Julie looked around and tried to make everything out but it was way too dark. "It's so dark, I can't see anything."

"Hold up. I think I have a lighter." In no time, Knuckles had lit a fire from his lighter and made things a little easier to see.

The two looked around and saw nothing around them that had interested them. They walked deeper into the building until they saw a distant light further down from them. They turned to each other and gave each other a look meaning they had to take caution. They slowly walked forward into the lighted room. They turned and saw an orange echidna taking chalk and writing a bunch of numbers across the wall.

"Hey you!" Knuckles called.

Frightened, the echidna dropped the chalk to the floor and turned to the two echidnas in shock.

When the echidna spun around, they both noticed that the strange echidna was a young girl maybe in her early twenties. She was wearing a white halter top, a green tribal like dress, white sandals, and a strange gold headband.

Her blue eyes began to fill in tears and her body shook as if she was afraid of them.

Knuckles and Julie looked back at each other in confusion both asking themselves who was she? And why was she hanging around inside the ancient ruins?

Later that night on a small island that wasn't that far from Tech City, there was a large tower setting on the island. Everything was quiet until there was a mass explosion coming from the inside of the tower.

Inside of the tower, a white female bat was running down the long narrow white hallways. She was wearing a black skin tight body suit with knee high black boots, and black gloves that came up to her elbows. Her long white hair that was tied in a ponytail was drifting in the air as she was running. She looked behind her and saw two gray robots hovering behind her in a fast pace.

A blue male wolf wearing black goggles on his head, a blue coat, black pants, and blue and black shoes was not too far from behind the robots that were after the bat. "Stop that crazy bat!" He shouted while he continued to run after her beside his robot servants.

The bat's boots skidded across the clean white floors as she tried to lose the wolf and the robots. She panted heavily while she ran. 'Why am I always the one to get the suck ass jobs?' She then immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw one of the robots standing in front of her. "Heh, looks like I made a wrong turn." When she spun around, she turned to the blue wolf and another robot that was standing beside him.

The wolf confronted her and held his hand in front of her while a sinister smile formed on his lips. "You're surrounded, bat girl. Now give back what you stole and maybe I'll let you off with a warning."

The bat woman arched her eyebrow towards the wolf. "I stole? You mean you stole it!"

An anger mark formed on the side of his head. "Sassy bat! How dare you steal what I stole! It's mine!"

The bat rolled her eyes. "As much as I would love to stand here and watch you throw a tantrum, Hao. My ride is waiting."

The wolf watched as she took out a flash grenade and threw it on the floor, blinding him. While he was trying to focus on her, he heard a loud explosion. When he could finally see again, he saw that a huge chunk of the wall had been blown away. "What!" He ran over to the ledge and saw the bat woman staring up at him from the tower while she was standing in a motorboat beside a black and red hedgehog. She made a salute sign from below him and turned to the hedgehog beside her. "Step on it, Shad."

The hedgehog made a nod and started to drive the motorboat away from the island.

The wolf's jaw dropped when he saw her drive away with the hedgehog. He clenched his fists and jumped up and down on the floor. "No! They're getting away! It's no fair! It's mine! Mine! Mine!"

While the hedgehog and bat were riding away from the island, the bat took out a small device from the inside of her boot. She gave the hedgehog a cunning look, "Dare I?"

The hedgehog formed a small smile, "Go for it, bat girl."

She pushed a small red button on the device and in no time, they both heard a loud explosion from behind them.

They looked and saw the tower explode into a million pieces and watched the wolf fall into the ocean.

The bat laughed hysterically. "Heh, man! I never get tired of that!" She stood beside the hedgehog and watched him drive the boat.

"He'll rise back up and build another crazy base for us to destroy in a few months." He felt her rest her hand on his shoulder and lean on him.

"You got that right." She sighed tiredly, "I'm just so glad this mission is over. I'm totally ready to hit the bed right about now."

The hedgehog arched an eyebrow towards her, "Yeah? So you can oversleep again?"

She made a teasing smile and playfully hit his shoulder. "You know me all too well, Captain Shadow." She took out a blue floppy disk from the inside of her boot and studied it. "So what's so special about this thing anyway?"

"I'm not sure. Vector didn't give specifics. We'll have to analyze it early tomorrow morning."

She sighed and placed the floppy disk back into her boot. She rubbed her head and tiredly laid her head on the hedgehog's shoulder. "I'm gonna take a small nap."

He couldn't help but to form a small blush as she laid her head on him. "I hope you're not gonna use me as a pillow. I'm driving here."

She tiredly lifted her head off of his shoulder and sat down in a corner of the boat. She leaned her head to the side and closed her eyes. "Wake me when we get home will ya, partner?"

"Sure." When he knew that she was really sleeping, his eyes traveled over to her sleeping body. 'Even when you're asleep…', he thought. '…I can't get over how beautiful you are.'

**A/N: Well here it is! The sequel to Saving Me! I hope you guys like it!**

**Charmy: My brain hurts!**

**Espio: How old is that language anyway?**

**Rouge: Maybe Knuckles can help us out here?**

**Espio: You're the one who put her in the friend zone!**

**Shadow: I just don't deserve her...**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

**UNCERTAINTY**

That next morning, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Shadow were pacing around the main lobby of the Chaotix with books in their hands.

Tonya was sitting at her desk looking at a book that was laying on her desk and back at the computer screen that was in front of her. She scratched her in frustration as she continued to look back at the book and the computer screen again. She was suddenly startled when a black hedgehog plopped a book down onto her desk.

"This is pointless. We're sitting here racking our brains because we can't figure out what's on that stupid disk."

Tonya stared at the strange text that was on her computer screen and tried to figure out what all of it had said. She was startled again when Espio plopped his book on her desk as well.

The chameleon sighed and rubbed his head, "It is way too early in the morning for a super puzzle."

Charmy laid his body over a chair next to Tonya's desk and sighed. "My brain hurts."

Vector approached the group while he was still flipping through pages in the book he was holding. "This doesn't make any sense. How old is that language anyway?"

Tonya rested her head on her hand and lazily looked over to the green crocodile. "Like millions of years old."

"Maybe it's just as old when humans used to live on this planet", Espio had assumed.

Charmy hovered over to the group and sat on Tonya's desk. "That's pretty old, Espio."

Everyone was interrupted when a white bat woman had came inside of the main lobby with a tired look on her face.

Vector slammed his book shut and gave the bat an annoyed look. "Rouge, what the hell? You're twenty minutes late!"

The bat girl lazily scratched her head and walked over to the group of detectives. "Oh come on, Vec! You can't give me one little break? Besides, don't you recall sending me and Shadow out on that mission last night?"

The crocodile crossed his arms and shook his head. "That's no excuse. If Shadow can thrive on four hours of sleep, then so can you!"

She sighed heavily in irritation. "Well he's some kind of super hedgehog. That doesn't count."

Vector was beginning to get more and more angry towards her remarks.

Before the two could carry on with their conversation, Tonya had called Rouge over to her. "Hey Rouge, do you think you can read what's on this disk? We've been at it almost all morning and we can't figure it out."

She walked behind her desk and stood beside her while she glanced at the strange text that was on the computer screen. "What the? What is this?"

"That's what we'd like to know", Tonya spoke while she looked at the screen again.

"Hmm…you know what? It kinda looks like an off language from what the echidnas use back on Angel Island."

"Do you really think that?" Vector asked.

The bat made a nod, "Well, I could let Knuckles check it out. Maybe he would know."

While Rouge was talking to Vector, Shadow couldn't help but to give her a bitter look as she spoke of Knuckles' name. He didn't like him from the fact that he and him never agreed with each other and never got along. He had hoped Vector wouldn't tell her to go to Angel Island. He was aware that Rouge was dating Knuckles and it annoyed him whenever he knew the two were together but for her sake, he pretended he was happy for her.

"Okay well it's worth a shot." Vector didn't normally want Rouge to go to Angel Island because he knew Rouge would get distracted from her mission and just flirt with Knuckles instead. He turned to Shadow, "Shadow, I want you to escort Rouge to Angel Island."

The one thing he didn't want to do was to be stuck in between Rouge and Knuckles. "But…but why me?"

"Because you're her partner that's why."

"Well can't someone else just…" He saw Vector giving him an irritated look.

"Is there a problem, Shadow?"

He paused and hesitated while he quickly decided to not give him the full details of why he didn't want to tag along with Rouge. "…N-No, sir…"

"Good." The crocodile turned to the kid bee who was spinning himself around in a desk chair. "Charmy, prepare the X-jet for them."

The kid bee hovered from the chair and made a salute towards his boss before leaving for the garage, "Yes, sir!"

A little later, Shadow had came into the garage to check on Charmy who was preparing the X-jet for them. He looked up at the kid bee who was working near the cockpit of the plane. "How's it coming, Charmy?"

"Great! Just a few more adjusting and you and Rouge will be ready to go!"

The made a small nod and suddenly heard the door to the garage being opened and closed. He spun around and saw a purple chameleon coming into the room and approaching him. "Oh hey, Es."

Espio looked up at the plane Charmy was working on and figured he was too far up to hear his and Shadow's conversation. "Looks like Vector's been throwing missions in you and your partner's face like crazy lately. What's up with that?"

The hedgehog shook his head and shrugged. "No idea. I guess he likes the fact that Rouge and are I aren't fighting as much as we used to."

Espio placed a finger to his chin and arched an eyebrow. "Oh yeah. You did make some kind of promise that you would be nicer to her from now on didn't you?"

"She's my friend and it's just time that I started to treat her like one."

Espio made a nod agreeing with him. "I saw you about to throw a little episode back there. What was that all about?"

Shadow crossed his arms and looked away from him. "…Nothing."

"…Really?" He didn't believe him.

"…It's just…her and Knuckles…"

The chameleon shook his head slightly, "Um hold up, Shad. Don't tell me you're still jealous? I don't know if you recall this but you were the one who put her in the friend zone remember?"

He sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead. "I…I know but it was for the best."

"How? You and her liked each other. Why didn't you go for it?"

"Because I don't deserve her…"

He gave the hedgehog a sympathetic look. "Come on, man. Don't say that."

"But it's true. A few months ago, I almost lost her because I was being careless and I wasn't emotionally strong enough to take care of her. I just don't want to hurt her."

The chameleon sighed heavily and crossed his arms. "God Shadow, why are you so complicated? Every little thing about something always makes you fall to pieces. I swear everything with you is like the sky is falling."

The two found themselves startled when a huge piece of metal fell from the plane and landed on the floor with a loud thud. The two angrily looked up at the kid bee who was giving them both an apologetic look.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, guys! It slipped!"

"Charmy!" Espio shouted as he shook his fist towards him. "You clumsy little…"

The hedgehog glared at the bee. "You let something else slip and I'll slip my foot up your scrawny ass!"

Charmy scratched the back of his head and once again apologized. "I'm sorry! Geez!" He turned away from the two angry detectives and continued to work on the plane.

Shadow sighed heavily and decided to go get Rouge so they could get leaving. "This day just can't end a little faster?"

Espio saw him leave the room and had hoped that he would okay during the mission with Rouge.

**A/N:**

**Rouge: Could you please get along with Knuckles just this once?**

**Shadow: No promises...**

**Julie-Su: Hey Shadow, I have something I wanna show you...**

**Knuckles: Why is that asshole here?**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**UNEASY**

Later on Shadow and Rouge had finally arrived on Angel Island and found themselves in a dense part of the forest. Shadow turned to Rouge who was texting on her cell phone. "I can't believe I'm saying this but where is that echidna? Wasn't he supposed to meet us here?"

Rouge placed the phone back in her pocket and sighed heavily before turning to the irritated looking hedgehog. "Relax Shad, he's on his way. And by the way, could you and Knuckles try to be nice to each other for once?"

He turned his head away from her and crossed his arms. "No promises…"

The two were suddenly greeted by a distant and familiar voice. They looked and in front of them they saw a red male echidna and a pink female echidna walking towards them.

The red echidna raised his hand towards the two. "Hey!"

"Shadow! Rouge! Glad you two could make it!" The pink echidna spoke with a warm smile.

Rouge's face lit up in happiness when she saw sight of the red echidna. "Knuckles!" She ran over to him and kissed him while she hugged him tightly.

He took his lips from hers and smiled towards her while he held her in his arms. "Good to see you again, babe."

She made a nod, "Yeah it feels like forever."

While the two were at it, Julie and Shadow gave the couple a bitter look.

Knuckles pulled her away from his body and held her hand. "So what's been going on?"

Rouge then remembered the reason why her and Shadow had came to visit them in the first place. She took out a blue floppy disk and placed it in his hand. "This disk contains some wacky writing on it and we were wondering if you could help us out."

He studied the strange disk by looking at it front and back but of course he didn't find anything interesting on the outside. "Well we can head back to my place and check it out."

Before the two could walk, Julie had spoken up.

"Uh you guys go ahead. I want Shadow to help me take a look at something." She slowly turned to face the puzzled hedgehog. "…If that's okay?"

Shadow didn't want to leave Rouge alone with Knuckles as he knew what the two would do when they had got back to Knuckles' house. However, he didn't even want to be around the two while they were together anyway. He decided some time apart from her was just what he needed. He made a nod towards the pink echidna, "That's fine."

Rouge questioned what Julie would want Shadow to see. She thought it would be for the best so Knuckles and Shadow would stay away from each other to avoid a future fight from happening. "Well okay. We'll catch up to you guys later."

Afterwards, everyone began to walk their separate ways from each other.

Later, Knuckles and Rouge arrived at his house. They were sitting on a white sofa together in his living room. They were looking at the strange text on a screen in front of them by using a projector. Knuckles placed a finger on his chin as he tried to make out the words and what they had meant. "I can't do it, Rouge. You were right though. This text is based from our ancestors but it seems so much older. I can't make it out."

Rouge sighed heavily when he told her he couldn't read what was on the disk either. "Dang and I thought someone would know."

"Heh, you're asking the wrong guy, babe." He saw her get up from the sofa and take the disk out of the projector.

She looked down at the disk she held in her hands. "Well it was worth a shot. " She put the disk in the inside of her boot. She suddenly felt Knuckles embrace her from behind.

"How long has it been since we've last seen each other?" He asked in a soft tone.

A warm smile formed on her lips as he placed his hands around her waist. "Two weeks right?"

He continued to search his hands around her body. "It sucks we're always busy. We don't have enough time to see each other."

She had to agree with him. With the long distance and him always looking after the Master Emerald and her always working at the Chaotix, it seemed the two could never spend a lot of time with each other. She spun around and wrapped her arms around his neck. "But we're with each other now and that's all that matters right?"

"…Right…"

When she leaned in to kiss him, she saw him turn away from her. "…What's wrong?"

"You didn't say he was coming…"

"Who?"

"Shadow", he growled under his breath. "Why is that asshole here?"

She pulled away from him. She didn't want to look at him for bringing her friend up in such a hateful manner. "The guy didn't say two words to you since he got here. What's the problem?"

"Look I don't want to be the asshole here but everywhere you go, he follows."

"Knuckles, I don't know if this is brand new to you but Shadow and I work together."

"Does he still treat you like shit?"

She spun around and gave him an angered look. "I told you this already! He's changed! He's become a very good friend to me! Why are you acting this way? What's up with you?"

He could tell that what he had said angered her. He took her hand and gently held it. "Look I'm sorry, Rouge. I didn't realize how important he's become to you." He placed both his hands on her cheeks and made her look at him. "I just don't want anything bad happen to you."

Rouge had now understood why he was acting so weird. She figured he was getting worried that Shadow would psychically hurt her or perhaps be jealous. "Everything's fine, Knux. I promise you."

A smile of relief formed on his face before he leaned in and kissed her soft lips.

She felt his kiss deepen and his hands travel around her body once more. She pulled away before it carried on any further. "Knux, we can't. I need to get back to Shadow."

He pulled her body against his trying to convince her to change her mind. "He'll be okay. He's busy with Julie remember? And besides, if something comes up I'm sure he'll hit you up."

He agreed with what he said knowing it was true. If anything important came up, he would contact her. "Yeah you're right." She then felt his lips brush upon her forehead.

"Please, Rouge", he begged and took her hand. "I want to spend time with you."

She made a smile towards him letting him know that it would be fine.

He led her back over to the sofa and sat down with her. He again leaned in to kiss her.

She wrapped her arms around him and followed his lead as his body took hers down onto the sofa.

**A/N:**

**Shadow: Something bothering you?**

**Julie-Su: Rouge is too good for him...**

**Shadow: Were you and Knuckles close or something?**

**Julie-Su: Don't tell her! You...you'll break her heart...**


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

**THE TEST OF INTEGRITY**

Later within the city of Mystic Ruins, Julie and Shadow had just walked into a small room in a doctor's office.

As Shadow looked around, he saw many of the other echidnas that were sitting around in the small room staring at him. He sighed heavily and turned to Julie. "It's always great to be the foreigner here", he murmured. "So why are we here anyway?"

"Follow me." She led him through another door and brought him into another smaller room.

When he stepped inside, he saw an orange female echidna sitting in a chair in front of them.

Once she made direct contact with the hedgehog, she immediately looked down at the floor.

Julie slowly approached her with Shadow by her side. "Hey there", she spoke softly. "How are you feeling?"

The echidna girl flinched as she saw both come closer to her.

Julie stopped getting close to her and turned to Shadow. "Knuckles and I found her out somewhere in the deep part of the forest yesterday morning. She was hanging around inside of some old ruins. Ever since we found her, she hasn't said a word. We think she might be a mute."

Shadow kneeled down on the floor to make eye contact with the strange girl again. "My name is Shadow. I'm a detective."

The girl just mindless stared at him in utter silence.

"…What's your name?"

She remained silent again and flinched when he reached out to her.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." He saw her body shake because of how frightened she was and thought that he shouldn't talk to her anymore. He stood from the floor and pulled Julie over in a distant corner of the room away from the frightened girl. "So are you sure she just isn't like…retarded?"

The pink echidna made an irritated look on her face and lightly hit the hedgehog's arm. "Of course not. She's just still under shock." She saw the girl lowering her head down onto the floor. She looked back at Shadow. "We can't help her until we know where she came from but she refuses to talk and is acting really uneasy around everyone."

Shadow took a look at the time from his cell phone. "I wonder if Rouge and Knuckles found anything about that disk."

Julie's eyes slowly wandered away from him and remained silent for a moment.

He saw how saddened she had became when he brought up Rouge and Knuckles. "…Something bothering you?"

She hesitated before she could look back at Shadow again. "Shadow, can you…keep something just between us?"

"Sure, Julie. What's up?"

She began to pace around the room a little while fiddling with her fingers. "You know Knuckles and I have been friends for a really long time right?"

"Of course."

She turned to him with a guilty look on her face. "…Rouge, doesn't deserve to be with him."

Shadow had already knew that from a count of he had despised the red echidna. "Tell me something I don't know."

She shook her head slowly. "You don't understand. Knuckles is cheating..."

When she spoke of him cheating his jaw had dropped.

"…With me."

He paused for a moment trying to take in what she was telling him. Of course he had felt bad for Rouge but it was great news for him. He finally caught Knuckles in the act of messing up with Rouge. "…How long has this been going on?"

She heavily sighed, "Years. He and I have been friends since childhood. We've been fooling around before he even meet her."

He placed a finger to his chin, "I see…"

"He just never wanted a serious relationship with me. He only saw us as just friends and when he said he asked Rouge out, I tried to be happy for him and respect the fact that he had wanted a relationship with her." She bit her lip before continuing, "But even when they officially started dating, he always complained he rarely got to see her and had certain needs."

He arched an eyebrow, "..Doesn't he know what guys do when they have certain needs?"

She knew he was talking about masturbation. "Well yeah but we were always around each other and he kept hinting things towards me. Of course I told him how wrong it was but he simply didn't care and if he didn't…then I didn't."

The orange echidna lifted her head slightly while she heard the two talking.

"So you're trying to tell me that you and him are still fooling around despite him dating Rouge?"

She made a small nod.

"Rouge is going to be devastated…"

Her eyes widened as she thought he was going to tell Rouge about Knuckle cheating on her. "No, Shadow! You can't tell her! You'll break her heart!"

"Julie, I can't hide this from her! She needs to know!"

"And she'll find out…just promise me it won't be from you."

He hesitated before speaking to her again. He heavily sighed and crossed his arms. "Rouge and I are very close friends and I'd do anything to protect her and keep her happy."

Listening to him talking like that, she was for certain that he would end up telling Rouge. "Have it your way then."

The two were interrupted when the door to the small room had opened. They turned and saw Knuckles and Rouge coming into the room.

Shadow's eyes were fixed onto Julie's.

The nervous pink echidna bit her lip before she forced a fake smile on her face.

"Oh hey, guys", Knuckles greeted. "I thought I'd find you here."

Rouge approached Shadow with a small smile, "What's up, Shad?"

He gave her a cold look while his arms were crossed. "Did you find out what the disk said?"

The bat shook her head slowly, "Unfortunately no."

He quickly changed the subject, "Then what took you so long to get back with me?"

A deep blush formed on her face as he asked. She hesitated not wanting to say the real excuse why her and Knuckles got back to him and Julie so late. Her eyes wandered over to an orange echidna who was sitting in a chair away from the group. "Hey who's that?"

"We don't know her name", Knuckles began. "We found her yesterday inside of an ancient ruin. By the way she dresses, she looks like she isn't even from around here but we're not for sure. She hasn't said a word as of yet." He saw Rouge slowly approaching the girl and holding her hand out to her.

The skittish girl stared at the bat's hand.

"It's okay, honey. You're among friends here."

It took a moment but the girl took Rouge's hand and slowly began to shake it.

Knuckles and Julie's eyes widened as she shook hands with Rouge.

The hedgehog arched an eyebrow at the sight. "Oh she shakes her hand but not mine?"

The red echidna chuckled a bit as he murmured under his breath. "That's no surprise."

The hedgehog's eyes flashed over to the red echidna. "Watch it, asshole", he said coldly.

Before the two ended up arguing, Julie tried to change the subject. "So Rouge, it seems she's taken a liking to you. Why don't you and Shadow take her to Tech City?"

Shadow shook his head slightly at the idea. "I don't know about this."

Rouge felt the girl's hands playing with her hair as she tried to convince Shadow. "Oh come on, Shad. What's the harm?"

He stared at the girl who was slowly beginning to form a smile of fascination on her face from Rouge's company. He shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. "Fine. Let's just go."

**A/N:**

**Charmy: I'm starting to think we'll never found out what's on that disk...**

**Rouge: Another mission? Oh joy...**

**Shadow: There's something I need to tell you...**

**Rouge: How could you do this to me?**


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

**UPRISING TENSION**

After when Shadow and Rouge had told Knuckles and Julie goodbye, they had left Angel Island with the strange echidna girl.

While Shadow was piloting the X-jet, Rouge was sitting next to him. She was staring out the window thinking about how much she had enjoyed spending time with Knuckles. She decided to snap herself out of it and turned towards the back of them. She looked at the orange echidna who was looking out the window of the plane. She seemed fascinated. "Hey you", she called.

The echidna girl looked over at the white bat.

"When we get back to Tech City, we're definitely doing something about your wardrobe."

She gave her a blank look as if she didn't understand her.

Shadow looked over to Rouge in irritation. "I take it she'll be staying with you then?"

"Wha? Why me?"

"Because she likes you more", he said with a smirk.

She crossed her arms and legs. "So what did you and Julie talk about while me and Knuckles were gone?"

He paused for a moment before speaking, "It was just the situation with her and that's all."

She actually had a hard time believing that Shadow was giving her the full story. Ever since the two left Angel Island, she noticed that Shadow had the look that he was hiding a dirty secret from her. She shrugged it off and kept quiet for the rest of the way back to the Chaotix.

Later when the two arrived back at the Chaotix, they walked into the main lobby with the rest of the team waiting for them.

"Ah Shadow! Rouge! Glad you two made it back safely", Vector said in relief. He looked closely and behind Rouge was an orange echidna woman. "I see you made a new friend?"

Rouge gently took her hand and made her face the group. Surprisingly, she didn't see her flinch or start running back to hide behind her. "She was found in an old ruin. She can't talk so we're trying to figure out where she came from."

"Oh?" Vector held his hand out to the orange echidna. "Nice to meet ya."

The girl just stared at his hand until Vector took his hand away from her in an awkward manner. "O…kay?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble Vec, but she only likes Rouge for some reason", Shadow explained.

"Did you two find out what's on the disk?" Tonya asked.

Rouge shook her head, "Nope but hey it was worth a shot right?"

"I'm beginning to think we'll never find out what's on that disk", Charmy had said with his antennas flopped down.

Vector shrugged his shoulders with him feeling the same way. "Whatever." He looked outside of the window and saw the sun setting in the orange sky. "The day's over anyway. Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow. Let's get some sleep and sort this stuff out in the morning."

Everyone nodded in agreement and began to get ready to leave.

Rouge was later downstairs in the basement gathering her things about to leave until she saw Shadow coming down the stairs and walking up to her. "Oh hey, Shad. What's up?"

"I've been hearing that you and I may have another mission tomorrow."

The bat sat down at her desk and rested her head on her hand. Her ears flopped down as she tiredly thought about how long and exhausting the mission may be for them. "You have got to be kidding me…"

He shook his head slightly. "Yeah it's a pain in the ass."

She lifted her head away from hand and rubbed her head. "Um Shad, I hope your still doing okay."

He tilted his head slightly as he had no idea what she was beginning to say.

"I mean I know you didn't want to come with me to Angel Island today."

She was right. He didn't want to go with her because of the fact that her and Knuckles would be together. However it didn't matter if he wanted to go or not because in the end Vector had forced him to go. "Well it's not like I had a choice."

She formed a small smile, "But it means a lot that you tagged along and didn't get in a psychical fight with Knuckles."

He seriously didn't want to bring up Knuckles in their conversation. He was still upset knowing that he was cheating on her. "…I know." This feeling was killing him in the inside, he had wanted to tell her about him. He didn't want to upset her but if he didn't tell her now, she would find out eventually and it would only hurt her worse. "Rouge, there's something I need to tell you."

Just by looking at his expression, she had a feeling with whatever he needed to tell her it would be quite serious. "What is it?"

"…It's about Knuckles."

"…What about him?"

"He's cheating on you…with Julie."

Her eyes sadly wandered down onto the floor.

He saw her not looking at him and kept silent after telling her the shocking news. "…I'm sorry."

She then angrily looked back up at the hedgehog. "Fuck you, Shadow!"

His body froze over her reaction. It wasn't quite the reaction he was expecting.

"How dare you tell me that lie!"

His eyes widened when she assumed what he was lying. "What?"

She stood from her desk and confronted him angrily. "I knew it…I knew you would get jealous of what I have with him!"

"Jealous? Rouge, you need to think for a minute here! I may hate the guy but it doesn't mean I would make up this bullshit lie to break you two up!"

Tears formed in her eyes as she shook her head. "I don't know why you're acting like this! You were the one who said we should stay friends! Now you're behaving like such a child!"

"Are you listening to yourself? How long have you fucking known me? Why would I do this to you?"

She sniffed as she looked up at him with her arms crossed. "Yeah Shadow, why would you do this to me?"

He couldn't believe she didn't trust his words. He didn't understand what made her believe that he was lying to her.

Tears streamed down her face as she glared at the confused hedgehog. "A friend would never treat someone like this." She wiped some of the tears away from her face. "Screw you", she sobbed. "You're not my friend."

At that point, he was done trying to convince her. Just carrying on the conversation just infuriated them. "If you don't believe me then that's just fine! I really do hope he breaks your heart and when he does, don't come crawling back to me! I don't want anything to do with you anymore!"

When she saw him angrily stomp his way back up the stairs, tears swelled in her eyes once more. She collapsed her head onto her desk and broke down crying.

**A/N:**

**Tikal: My name is Tikal **

**Rouge: You...you can talk?**

**Tikal: I'm sorry about what happened...**

**Rouge: He is such an asshole!**

**Tikal: I...I can't remember anything...**


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

**BEING OKAY**

Rouge had her head on her desk crying over the argument that she just had with Shadow. She was startled when she felt a hand land gently on her shoulder. She assumed it was Shadow before she had bothered to turn around. "Go away, Shadow!" She wiped away her tears before she spun around and saw the orange echidna woman staring at her with a sympathetic look on her face. "Oh it's you. Look I'm not exactly in the mood right now…"

"…I'm sorry…for what happened…"

The bat's eyes widened and her jaw dropped from hearing the girl talk for the first time. "…Wha…what did you say?"

"I apologize. Where are my manners?" She formed a warm smile towards the saddened bat woman. "My name is Tikal."

Rouge was still speechless. Not only could she talk but she could speak in complete sentences as well. 'She can talk', she thought. 'Maybe she was just under shock.'

"I saw what happened between you and Shadow…"

The bat's eyes wandered away from her. "Oh you did huh?"

"Rouge, I don't know what's entirely going on and I've tried not to interfere but you and Shadow seemed like really good friends."

She sighed sadly, "Yeah I thought so too…"

"Before you and Shadow came to Angel Island, I was taken under Knuckles and Julie-Su's care. While I was with them, I saw Knuckles showing great affection towards her. They were acting like a complete couple. I had thought they were dating."

Rouge's eyes were full of surprise as she listened to her explain.

"But then you and Shadow came and I overheard Shadow and Julie-Su talking. Julie-Su told Shadow about her affair with Knuckles and she wanted Shadow to keep it a secret. But I could tell Shadow wanted to tell you because he seemed like he cared about your feelings."

Rouge felt extremely horrible. Now she realized that everything Shadow was telling her was true and because of her assuming that he was just jealous, she had lost him as a friend. She felt like she wanted to cry all over again. "My God…he was telling the truth. I need to talk to him…"

She shook her slightly, "Him and the others left already."

She thought about maybe calling him later. But then she thought that maybe she should let him cool down first. She knew if she tried to talk to him while he was enraged, he would just yell and swear at her aimlessly. "I'll just try to talk to him tomorrow and patch things up then."

The echidna made a small nod agreeing that was a better idea. "Now that's been settled, shall you escort me to your house?"

With her saying that, it had caught her off guard at first but then she remembered that she was supposed to stay with her. "Oh yeah of course."

Later that night at Rouge's house, Tikal was in her bedroom sitting on her bed waiting for Rouge to come into the room. She was wearing one of Rouge's old shirts. It was a large gray shirt and nothing more was covering her body. She heard her across the hall yelling at Knuckles over the phone. It sent a shiver down her spine as she yelled, screamed, and swore into the phone. She could never picture someone like Rouge getting so mad. It was pretty scary to her. She then saw the white bat come into the room and carelessly dropped the phone on the small table beside her bed. She shook her head and sighed heavily. "What an asshole!"

The echidna gave her a saddened look. "I take it the breakup didn't go well?"

The bat walked over to her dresser and looked at herself in the mirror as she tied her long hair into a ponytail. "When I asked him about his affair with Julie, he completely ignored the question and kept asking who was the one who told me about it. Of course he didn't give me a yes or no answer at first but when I started yelling and screaming at the mother fucker, he admitted that he was cheating on me."

She wondered if Rouge had told Knuckles that she heard it from Shadow or from her. "Did you tell him who told you?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. He probably assumes it was Julie."

"Did he at least apologize to you for his actions?"

The bat woman leaned her back side against the dressed and rolled her eyes as she remembered the red echidna's poor attempt to try to sweet talk her back into his arms. "He said he was sorry and he wouldn't do it again and blah blah blah…"

"What did you say to that?"

"I told him he could kiss my ass and jump off a bridge."

A sweat drop appeared on the side of her head. "Oh Rouge, don't you think that was a bit harsh?"

The bat arched an eyebrow towards the echidna. "Are you kidding me? That asshole wasn't sorry! If he truly loved me and wanted to be with me, he wouldn't have cheated in the first place. Am I right?"

She made a small nod. "That's true." Her eyes were glued to the bat's beautiful body that was covered in a silk red lingerie dress. "Rouge, you're so beautiful. I don't understand why Knuckles would do something so awful to you."

Flattered by Tikal's comment, she made a small smile and decided to sit next to her on her bed. "I'm not sure. I guess it's supposed to be a guy thing?"

Tikal bit her lip knowing that Rouge was still heartbroken over her breakup with Knuckles and was becoming depressed and bitter. "There's no way men should have the right to act like that."

She made a sarcastic laugh. "Really? Seems like I've been running into all the wrong ones lately."

The echidna tilted her head giving her a confused look. "Who else hurt you?"

She paused and looked at a framed picture of her and a black and red hedgehog standing next to her. The hedgehog was holding a rifle over his shoulder while she was holding a shotgun in her hands. Judging by the setting of the background, it looked like the photo was taken at the Chaotix.

Tikal saw he staring at the picture and gave the bat a teasing smile. "You? And Shadow?"

A deep blush formed on her face in embarrassment. "What? The captain? No way! That's like illegal or something!"

"Wait so you and Shadow were…"

"No!" Rouge exclaimed with her face cherry red. "It wasn't like that…I mean…I wish it was…"

Tikal once again gave her a puzzled look.

"Don't get it all wrong. Shadow is a great guy and at one point, we thought we had liked each other…enough so that we would start dating but…"

She then saw sadness on the bat's face as she looked down at the bed they were sitting on.

"We just came to the conclusion it was just tension and he more or less didn't want a relationship with me."

In her mind, Tikal thought that Shadow and Rouge would seem like a great looking couple. "But why?"

The bat shrugged her shoulders and slowly shook her head. "Till this day, I still don't understand the reason why he gave me up. I guess he didn't want things to change between us."

Tikal remained silent after when she realized that talking about her and Shadow depressed Rouge even more.

Rouge noticed the awkward silence between them and decided to just change the subject. "But enough about me. What about you, Tikal?"

"Huh?"

"What's up? Why didn't you say anything to anyone earlier?"

"Oh", she looked down at her fingers and started to fiddle with them. "I was just shy."

Rouge failed to believe that she was more than just shy. She thought maybe she just didn't trust anyone at the time. "O…kay? Well, why were you all by yourself in those ruins back at Angel Island?"

"…I don't know…"

The bat rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms towards her. "You don't know?"

She made a small nod. "As soon as Knuckles and Julie-Su found me, it seemed that everything from before was a complete blank. I suddenly forgot why I was down there and why I was writing strange things on the wall. The only thing I could clearly remember was my name."

"You must be kidding! Sounds like a serious case of amnesia there."

A saddened look formed on the echidna's face. "I wish I could remember so I can find out what my purpose is." She suddenly felt Rouge's hand on her shoulder. She turned to her and saw her making a warm smile towards her.

"Don't worry, sweetie. The Chaotix and I will help you get this mess sorted out and you'll be good to go in no time."

She couldn't help but to make a friendly smile towards her as well. "Oh Rouge, thank you." She then saw her crawling under her covers on the bed.

"Well we got a big day tomorrow. We should get some rest."

The echidna made a nod, "Yes let's get some rest." She crawled into bed with her and decided to get some sleep as well as she had a feeling that tomorrow would bring some serious excitement.

**A/N:**

**Vector: Shadow hasn't been very thrilled to work with Rouge lately.**

**Espio: You know them, Vec! Their fights never completely end.**

**Vector: And I thought they were getting along so well...**

**Rouge: Another mission? Great...**

**Charmy: That girl can talk!**

**Tikal: It's a pleasure to meet you all!**

**Shadow: Just stay out of my way...**


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

**BREAKING THE ICE**

The next morning, Shadow, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Tonya were in the main lobby of the Chaotix discussing the mission that Shadow and Rouge had to carry out. Vector and Shadow were looking at the screen of the computer on Tonya's desk glancing through an e mail that was sent from the Tech City Police Department.

Vector had his eyes locked onto the hedgehog's eyes seriously as they stood side by side with each other. "Like I've been saying before, I'll be leaving for Future City in a couple of days to go to that stupid meeting. Maybe try to figure out what's on that stupid disk as well."

The hedgehog sighed and rose an eyebrow towards him, "Another meeting?"

The crocodile shrugged, "What? Are you complaining? You get to be in charge of the Chaotix while I'm gone remember? And this will be the last mission you'll be forced to do until I get back."

"A break huh? Oh joy…", he spoke sarcastically as he knew time would fly by during Vector's absence and knew that he would be back at the Chaotix in no time. He looked back at the computer screen they were both looking at. "I don't understand. A missing priest and his granddaughter go missing for a few days and the police sent a swat team to go find them who were last seen in a cluster fuck of a forest?"

Vector's eyes were locked onto the computer screen as he read more of it. "They said they sent a swat team out weeks ago to rescue them but they never heard back from them."

"And what? They thought a bunch of D rank detectives could go and rescue a priest, his granddaughter, and an entire swat team?" He said in an annoyed tone.

The crocodile turned to him and explained while the others were listening in on the mission. "That's not all. There are rumors about the forest being haunted and with the sudden disappearances, everyone's too scared to go see what's really going on."

Charmy's eyes were full of worry when he heard the word haunted from Vector. "Haunted?"

Shadow crossed his arms and walked away from the computer and paced around the lobby. "How pathetic. I can't believe everyone's afraid of a little myth."

A chuckle escaped from Espio's lips as he even thought it was ridiculous. "I have to agree. I mean come on! What kind of fools do they take us for anyway?"

Vector rolled his eyes at the two and walked away from the computer as well. "Well, since you're so confident, see if you can Rouge and find out what's going on."

The black hedgehog frowned when he mentioned the bat woman's name. It angered him all over again to know that she would be joining him on the mission. "Fine. Then I'll be in the garage waiting for her slow ass to get here."

Vector gave the hedgehog a puzzled look on why he was acting so cold. "But you need to go over the mission with her."

"You go over it with her. I have no intention of explaining anything to that bat."

Espio arched an eyebrow towards his sudden attitude. 'What's up with him?' He thought. 'Is he upset with Rouge or something?'

"But Shadow, it's your job as her partner…" Vector was suddenly cut off when he saw Shadow turn to him and raise his tone a bit.

"Then summarize it up for her!"

Afterwards he saw the infuriated hedgehog walk into the garage and slamming the door behind him.

The crocodile placed a finger to his chin as he knew right then that Shadow and Rouge must have gotten into another argument.

"What's his problem?" Tonya asked.

Vector shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. He and Rouge were getting along so well and now he's once again pissed off with her."

Tonya made an annoyed look as she knew Shadow and Rouge argued way too many times and knew them getting into another disagreement was bound to happen eventually. "Wonder what happened between them this time", she spoke sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Rouge and Tikal were making their way to the door of the Chaotix building.

The white bat looked over at the orange echidna wearing a white fitted t shirt, blue skinny jeans, and black and white high top sneakers. She rose an eyebrow towards her. "Seriously Tikal, whenever we get some down time, we're definitely getting you some new threads."

"Wha? What's wrong with my clothes?"

She crossed her arms, "I don't know where you came from but here in Tech City, tribal wear is out."

She gave her a look as if she was confused. "Oh? Well thanks for letting me borrow some of your clothes."

"Hey it's no problem. And don't be so nervous around the guys okay? No one's gonna bite. I promise", she spoke with a warm smile.

"Well everyone does seem friendly…except…"

She gave her a blank look as she hesitated.

"That black hedgehog…Shadow. He…He seems so scary."

After hearing that, Rouge escaped a chuckle. "What? Shadow? Well, he does have that don't fuck with me kind of look." She then saw Tikal's frightened expression. "Don't worry, Tikal. Shadow's harmless. Doesn't talk much and is rough around the edges but…harmless."

A sigh of relief formed on her face afterwards.

The two finally approached the door.

"And speaking of which…" Rouge began, "…What happened last night…don't speak a word to anyone."

"My lips are sealed."

She had opened the door and the two had stepped inside with the group of detectives waiting for them in the lobby.

Vector crossed his arms in annoyance towards Rouge. "Well it's about time you showed up."

The bat sighed heavily as she and Tikal walked towards the group. "Yeah yeah I know I'm late again. My bad. Geez…"

Espio spotted the orange echidna woman standing next to her. "I almost didn't recognize her with her wearing your clothes."

"Guys, I want you to meet Tikal." Rouge nudged Tikal lightly towards the group in front of them.

Bashful, Tikal began to speak to the group of detectives. "He-Hello", she spoke in a low and shy tone.

Everyone had shocked expressions on their faces. They all couldn't believe that she could speak and even in complete sentences.

"Nice to meet you, Tikal", Vector said as he held his hand out to her so she could shake it. "My name is Vector. I'm the leader of the Chaotix."

"I'm Espio", the chameleon spoke.

"My name's Charmy!" The bee said in an excited tone.

"Tonya", the cat woman spoke in a friendly voice.

"And Shadow is…" Rouge looked around the lobby and didn't see him anywhere.

"Shadow's waiting for you in the garage", Vector spoke. "You two are assigned on another mission. He'll fill you in on the details."

A bitter look formed on her face. She completely forgot about her mission with Shadow. She feared things would be severely difficult when she would try to talk to him again. She sighed heavily, "Right. Well, you guys better look out for her while I'm gone."

Espio placed his hand on Tikal's shoulder, "Don't worry, bat girl. We'll take good care of her."

The bat arched her eyebrow towards him and shook her head slightly. "Whatever. Later."

Everyone watched as she walked out of the lobby and into the garage.

When she walked into the garage, she saw the black and red hedgehog leaning his back against the huge plane behind him while his arms were crossed.

As he heard the door shut, his eyes flashed over to her. "You're here. Good. We have a rescue mission to do."

She could tell from his cold expression that he was still upset with her. "Shadow, about yesterday…"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it. Let's just get this mission over with."

"But…but Shadow…"

"That's enough! Let's go!" He shouted in a cold tone.

Rouge knew he was still clearly angry with her. All she could do is wait for him to calm down a bit more. She remained quiet and decided to start the mission with him.

**A/N: Okay I'm gonna say this now before my e-mails start piling up. I'm not going to be updating as much as I was cause I now have 2 jobs and it's pretty impossible for me to even though my computer anymore. But I'm telling you all this, for sure I am not going to quit this story. I swear I will finish this story! It may take a few years but I am going to finish this fic! lol! Anyway, there will be occasional updates so just sit tight. More chapters are on the way! Thanks for awesome feedback and reviews! Makes me super happy you guys are enjoying the fic! :)**

**Rouge: Shadow, we need to talk!**

**Shadow: Oh so you believe Tikal but not me?**

**Rouge: You were never over me...**

**Shadow: What's happening?**

**Rouge: What the hell are those things?**

**Shadow: Quick! Head for that church!**


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

**THE CURSED WOODS**

Later, Rouge was sitting in the passenger seat watching Shadow pilot the X-jet. She knew from his expression that he still wasn't in the talking mood. After when he briefly described the mission to her, the two no longer spoke a word to each other. She took her eyes away from him and looked down the window. Her eyes widened when she saw the sky looking a dark reddish color. "Um was the sky like that when we left?"

He looked at the dense forest below them. "Never mind that. We're here."

When he had landed the plane, the two got off of the plane and began to explore the dark and eerie forest.

Rouge was walking with him through the forest and noticed the long and awkward silence between them. She couldn't take the fact that he was still angry with her. She had to say something. "Shadow, we need to talk", she spoke in a firm tone.

He continued to walk, "Well I don't."

"Well then don't! Just listen!"

"…Fine."

"Well", she began. "Tikal told me some interesting things yesterday."

"Oh? She's talking now?" He asked with him still not facing her.

"Yeah and she told me she overheard you and Julie talking about her sleeping with Knuckles. So it turns out that you really were right. Knuckles was cheating on me. So I broke up with him."

"Oh so when I tell you that Knuckles is cheating, you don't believe me but when she tells you, you believe her huh?"

"What? No Shad, it's not like that. You were jealous and I thought…"

He suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to her coldly. "Let's get something straight. I was never jealous! I was just looking out for you like a good friend should! But you keep bringing shit up from the past that happened between us! It was just sex! Do you not understand?"

Rouge remained silent as she could tell that she was only infuriating him.

"I'm over you! Why can't you see that?"

Her eyes glared into his, "…Are you over me, Shadow? Are you?"

Before he could speak again, he heard a tree branch snapping near them.

"What was that?" Rouge spoke as she cautiously look around.

He began to look around them as well until he heard Rouge call out.

"Shadow, look up there!"

He looked up in a tree close to them and saw a body of a man wearing a swat G.U.N. uniform hanging from the branch of the tree. "What the?"

Rouge placed her hand over her mouth in disgust as she saw the man's head twisted and his spinal cord sticking out of his back. "What could've done this?"

The two suddenly heard a loud growling noise close by.

"What's that?"

They both spun around and saw a huge brown four legged creature with red glowing eyes, drooling sharp fangs, and huge sharp claws.

Rouge's body froze as she stared at the strange creature. 'What is that?' Her eyes widened when she saw the creature running up to her. Before she could move, she saw the creature's head being blown into bits. She fell to the ground from the powerful impact. She turned her head and saw Shadow standing behind her while holding a huge handgun in his hand. She wiped some of the blood off that had gotten on her face. She sat there on the ground in disbelief from what she saw. She looked and saw more of the creatures appearing from the dark forest around them.

Shadow grabbed her by her hand and pulled her off the ground, "We gotta go!"

She then started to follow him throughout the forest while the creatures began to chase after them. She took out her handgun as well and started to fire at the creatures. The handgun she and Shadow were using had been modified to take special bullets that would blow away anything they touched. As she fired her gun at the monsters, she saw the bullets blow away their legs, parts of their body, and parts of their face. However, as she shot at them, it seemed like more and more would keep coming.

They ran and ran until they came across a large graveyard with a huge church in the distance. They saw more of the creatures waiting for them in the graveyard along with more bodies of the missing swat team that were scattered all over the ground. Some were missing heads, ligaments, half of their bodies, and some were just scattered body parts.

"Oh my God", Rouge spoke in a broken voice.

The creatures were drooling over the sight of them. Some of the creatures were still chewing on some of the body parts.

When Shadow looked at the church in front of him, he could feel himself becoming strangely lightheaded but he tried to fight it off. He pointed at the church. "Quick! Run for that church!"

She began running behind him until they both made it inside of the church. Once she slammed the doors shut, she took a long metal pipe and bent it around the handles of the doors. She sighed in relief, "That should hold em off."

"Please don't hurt us!"

"Huh?" She spun around and saw a brown middle age badger man wearing a priest outfit and a red fox woman who looked like she was in her early twenties wearing a nun outfit.

"Um?"

The two started to slowly back away from her.

"Oh please!" The badger spoke. "Don't hurt us!"

She was confused by their behavior but she soon figured that they were probably just shaken up after seeing those creatures. She put up her hands and formed a friendly smile towards them. "No, no! I-I'm not a monster."

"Oh!" The woman spoke and turned to the badger. "It's okay. She won't hurt us."

The badger sighed in relief and placed his hand on his chest. "Oh thank the heavens!"

The bat arched an eyebrow as she studied to the two. "Hmm, a priest and a nun? Are you the two who suddenly disappeared?"

Soon wide smiles had appeared on both of their faces.

"Are you here to save us?" The nun asked.

Rouge made a small nod, "Yes we're detectives from the Chaotix Detective Agency of Tech City. We were sent here to rescue a priest and his granddaughter."

The priest clasped his hands together in happiness, "Oh it's a miracle! Truly God's blessing!"

A sweat drop formed on the side of her head, "Um…yeah?"

"Allow us to introduce ourselves…" The fox pointed to herself. "My name is Danielle." She pointed to the priest standing next to her. "And this is my grandfather, Frank."

Rouge formed a small smile and introduced herself as well. "My name is Rouge The Bat. And the quiet one is Shadow."

The priest and nun gave her a blank look.

"So um, does he fall asleep a lot?" The priest asked.

The bat rose her eyebrow towards his comment. She quickly spun around and saw the black and red hedgehog laying on the concrete floor. "What the?" She kneeled down next to him and began to shake his body. "Shadow? Shadow!" She called out to him but he didn't respond.

The priest and nun walked over to them.

"Is he all right?" Danielle asked.

Rouge shook her head slowly, "I don't get it. He was fine a minute ago and now he's unconscious?"

"We can take him in the back where he's safe." Frank suggested.

Rouge nodded agreeing with him. "Good idea."

Later at the Chaotix, it was dusk and it was time to close the agency. Everyone was heading home.

Vector was outside locking up the doors.

Tonya approached him with a worried look. "It's getting late and we haven't had contact with Shadow and Rouge ever since they left. I'm worried."

He faced her and gave her a warm look. "Don't worry, Ton. It'll be awhile before those two get back. After all, they went outside of the city."

"But…"

"It's Shadow and Rouge. They'll be okay." He placed his hand on her shoulder and patted it. "If we don't hear from them by tomorrow, we'll go looking for them. I promise." He took his hand away from her shoulder and began to walk away. "Good night, Ton."

Even though Vector seemed confident that the two would be okay, Tonya had thought otherwise.

**A/N: Sooo I came back. Woop! Woop! At first I didn't have any time to write and then I got lazy and then I had a case of the block! Ugh! I hope I can muster up some energy to keep writing! I swear I miss fanfics and I miss you guys! It's good to be back for now! Hope you all enjoyed the chap! ^_^**

**Danielle: So...are you like in charge?**

**Rouge: Why yes! Yes I am!**

**Frank: Your friend is very sick I'm afraid.**

**Rouge: Shadow is sick? Aw crap! What am I going to do?**

**Frank: A...demon?**

**Shadow: Where is your God now?**


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

**UPRISING EVIL**

Later back at the church, Rouge was making sure that all of the doors and windows were barricaded so none of the monsters would get inside of the church.

Danielle was in the room watching her.

"Wow", Rouge spoke. "You guys had a couple of few open spots here and there within the church. I'm surprised none of them haven't gotten in yet."

"Well those creatures just chased us in here and we panicked so we just grabbed anything we saw to board up the entrances to the church."

"But you forgot the main door. Shadow and I just swung those doors open like nothing was there."

"But we did seal the door off with wooden boards but…you broke through them."

A sweat drop formed on the side of her head as she stared at the broken wooden pieces that were laying near the entrance of the door. "Well I guess I don't know my own strength. Heh!"

"So…" Danielle began. "You and that hedgehog are detectives?"

"Yup sure are."

"And that hedgehog is your partner I take it?"

"Yup."

"So are you like his boss or something?"

The bat's eyes widened in surprise and she began to question how Danielle even thought that she was over Shadow. "His boss? How do you figure that?"

"Well you seem so calm and know exactly what to do in this situation."

Rouge paused for a moment. Never in her wildest dreams would she think of herself as a leader of anything. It flattered her at the thought and a lot. She decided to play a long with it since Shadow was always in charge but now that he was out of the picture, she could take a hold of the situation. She turned to her with a wide smile. "Leader? Why yes! Yes I am!"

Danielle clasped her hands together and smiled warmly at her. "I figured as such. You seem like you really know what your doing."

An unsure smile formed on her face. 'With Shadow out of commission, I really don't know what I'm doing. Damn…what would Shadow do at a time like this?' A sweat drop appeared on the side of her head as she thought realistically what Shadow would be doing. 'Ugh! If that hedgehog was awake right now, he'd probably be yelling, throwing tantrums, and cussing everyone out.'

"Detective Bat." a male voice spoke.

Rouge snapped out of her thoughts and turned to a brown badger who was coming from the back of the room. "What's his condition?"

"He's still unconscious. He also has a high fever."

"Holy crap! He's sick?" She failed to believe how sick he had gotten suddenly. It worried her on what was wrong with him.

"I'm afraid so."

She swore under her breath, "Damn…"

"What should we do, Detective Bat?" Danielle asked as she saw Rouge's panicked expression.

Even though Shadow suddenly wasn't feeling well, she was still in charge during his absence so she assured that it was her job to keep Danielle and Frank safe and calm. "Okay you two, our first priority is to get the heck out of here."

"But…but the creatures…" Frank spoke.

"What? You want to stay in here to either A…starve to death or B…wait until those things break in here and eat you alive?"

Frank remained silent as he knew what she had said was all true.

"We have to leave."

"But how?" Danielle asked. "Those monsters are everywhere outside. We absolutely have no way of getting out."

Rouge placed a finger on her chin until an idea came to her. "So uh…you got any shovels?"

Moments passed and the creatures outside of the church were still wandering around the church awaiting for the group to come outside of the church.

Inside of the church, Danielle was sitting on one of the benches watching Rouge dig a huge hole in the floor with a shovel. She looked down in the hole she was in and arched an eyebrow. "Um are you sure this will work?"

Rouge stopped digging into the ground and looked up at the red fox woman. "Hey! You doubt me? Who's the detective here?"

"But…but you're ruining the floors."

The bat shrugged, "And? This church is pretty ancient anyway."

"Well yes but…it's been here for such a long time. It's a shame to see it in this kind of condition. It was like another home to me and my grandfather."

The bat sighed heavily, "Hey you wanna get out of here or not?"

Before she could say anymore, Frank had peeked his head inside of the hole Rouge was in with some towels in his hands.

"Hey how's Shadow doing?"

"He's still doing the same the last time I checked up on him but I'm going to see if anything's changed."

"Thanks, Frank."

The priest made a warm smile and began to walk towards the back leaving Rouge to keeping working on getting them all out of the church.

When he had made it towards the back room, he was in a small resting room. It was dim inside of the room with one flickering light bulb hanging from the ceiling. On the counter there was a bowl of ice water and beside it were towels along with other medical supplies. He shut the door quietly behind him and placed the towels he had in his hands down on the counter. He spun around and turned to the black unconscious hedgehog who was laying on a small bed. He walked over to him and slowly took off a blue cloth that was setting on the top of his head. He walked back over to the counter and began to soak the cloth in the bowl of ice water. "Heh, it's the wrong time to get sick on everyone you know?"

With his back turned, the hedgehog's hands twitched and his eyes opened suddenly.

"Your very blessed to be alive and have such a friend like her."

He slowly sat his body up from the bed and turned his head over to him.

"With the willpower from God, you can perhaps overcome this sickness of yours and do your part to help as well."

He grabbed a pair of scissors off of the table beside him.

Frank rinsed the water from the cloth and prepared to place it back on Shadow's head. Before he could turn around, a hand was placed over his mouth and he suddenly felt a sharp metal object being stabbed into his back. He let out a cry of agony over the hand but it wasn't enough for Danielle or Rouge to hear his cries for help. He felt himself being stabbed again and again repeatedly. He didn't know how much longer he could bare the pain. He fell to the floor with his back against the wall. He slowly lifted his head up and saw the black hedgehog with menacing demonic eyes holding the bloody scissors in his hand.

The hedgehog began to lick the blood hungrily off of the scissors.

He could faintly hear the hedgehog speaking to him as he kneeled down to the floor in front of his body.

He whispered in an evil tone, "Where is your God now?"

He coughed up some blood until everything went black.

**A/N: Yes I posted up 2 chapters in one day. I normally don't do this buuut I'm feeling really type happy sooo here's another dose of the story! Enjoy! ^_^**

**Rouge: Shadow! My God! What happened?**

**Shadow: I tried to save him...**

**Danielle: But...my grandfather!**

**Shadow: We have to go now!**

**Rouge: They're everywhere!**

**Shadow: We'll get out of here! I swear it!**


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

**ESCAPING EVIL**

While Rouge and Danielle were still working on digging their way out of the church, they heard a loud crash coming from the back room.

Rouge peeked her head out of the hole she was in, "What the hell was that?"

Danielle's heart raced after when she heard the crash, "Grandfather?"

Rouge jumped out of the hole and held Danielle back until the dark figure showed his face after from coming out of the back room. Rouge gasped when she saw a weakened black and red hedgehog coming from the shadows. "Sha-Shadow?"

The hedgehog leaned his body against the wall while holding his right shoulder. "…Rouge?"

Panicked, Danielle and Rouge ran over to him in worry.

Rouge studied how he looked and her eyes widened as she saw him covered in blood. "My God, Shadow! What happened?"

He panted heavily as he tried to explain. "One of those things…they got in here…I…tried to save him…"

Danielle formed tears in her eyes as she feared that the hedgehog was referring to her grandfather. "My grandfather…"

He looked away from her slowly. "…I'm sorry."

Tears began to stream down her face and her body collapsed to the floor in grief. "No! It's can't be!"

Rouge tried to help her off of the floor and help her get herself together. "Danielle!"

"My grandfather!" She sobbed. "He can't be!"

Shadow's eyes widened when he saw her try to run for the backroom to see if he was truly dead. He grabbed her arm and tried to calm her down. "Listen to me! I'm sorry but he's dead!"

She slowly shook her head and rested her head onto the hedgehog's bloody shirt and began to sob.

Rouge felt terrible about the situation and it tore her apart to see Danielle like this but now that she learned one of the creatures had gotten inside of the church, she began fearing for their safety. "Shadow, is that thing still in here?"

"No. Fortunately I killed it but if that thing got in here one way, no doubt the rest will make their way in here sooner or later."

Rouge looked back at the hole was digging in the middle of the floor. "But we need more time!"

"We don't have that option! We have to get out of here now!"

"But…"

"There are no more survivors. Just you, me, and her. We have to get back to the X-jet."

"But how?"

"Just follow my lead."

Soon, Shadow busted the door down of the church and ran out with Rouge flying behind him while she carried Danielle in her arms. As Shadow ran through the crowd of monsters, he formed a small smile of relief. 'I already feel ten times better.'

As Rouge was trying to evade the monsters, one was about to attack her and Danielle. "Shadow!"

He saw the creature try to attack them so he raised his hand towards the creature and blast a yellow light from it at the creature. "Chaos Spear!"

The yellow energy blasted from his hand impaled the creature and killed it instantly.

He continued to lead them deeper into the woods until they finally reached the X-jet. "Rouge! Danielle! Get in now! I'll hold them off!"

Rouge didn't think Shadow would be up for any of this since he was still recovering from the sudden sickness he had. "But what about you?"

"Don't worry about me! Just go!" Shadow took out his handgun and began firing it at the creatures.

Rouge did as he wanted and climbed into the X-jet with Danielle.

When Danielle got settled in, she saw Rouge starting up the plane. She gasped, "Rouge, what are you doing? What about Detective Hedgehog?"

She settled herself in the pilot seat and got ready to take off. "He'll catch up."

When Rouge got the plane in the orange morning sky, Danielle gave her a worried look while they were flying.

"What happened to Detective Hedgehog?"

Before Rouge could answer, a flash of green light appeared in the back of them inside of the plane.

They both turned to a bloody black hedgehog who was standing behind them.

"You seriously thought I couldn't take them on by myself?"

"Detective Hedgehog, thank God you're allright!" Danielle spoke in relief.

Rouge had set the plane on autopilot mode and ran into Shadow's arms and hugged him. "You're okay! I was worried…" As she hugged him, she suddenly remembered that he was still upset with her. She pulled away from him slowly and looked into his red eyes. "Um, sorry if I was…"

"What? About earlier? Forget about it."

She formed a warm smile at him and was relieved that he had forgiven her from their previous disagreement.

The two were still embracing each other until Danielle made a fake cough.

"Um, I do hope we have someone to fly us back to Tech City."

They both smiled at each other warmly and finally broke away from each other.

Shadow sat down in the pilot seat and continued to fly the plane with Rouge sitting beside him and Danielle sitting in the back.

Rouge looked over to the hedgehog who was piloting the plane. "Shadow?"

He turned to her having his attention falling on her.

"I'm glad everything is back to normal."

He paused, formed a smirk and gently rested his hand on her leg. "…Yes…everything is…normal…"

**A/N:**

**Vector: Make sure you take care of everyone while I'm gone.**

**Shadow: Don't you worry, Vector. I'll take real good care of them...**

**Tonya: I think we all need a break!**

**Charmy: A break! A break!**

**Tikal: Oh, Shadow! I'm so sorry! It won't happen again!**

**Shadow: That girl...makes me sick...**


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

**THE AFTERMATH**

It was days later after Shadow and Rouge's last mission. Danielle had decided to move in with her mother after the incident and help run a local church in the city. The days passed and there were no sign the of strange monsters as of yet.

Early that sunny morning, Vector came rushing out of the Chaotix in a brown suit with a black suitcase in his hand.

Shadow was following behind him with a clipboard in his hands. He was trying to take notes as Vector told him on what to do during his absence.

"Remember Shadow, just because I'll be gone for awhile, it doesn't mean take on a ton of assignments just to catch up on a few paperwork."

"Please…with you gone, there will be less papers for me to sort than ever."

"Hey! It doesn't mean to get lazy on me!" He approached a yellow taxi cab that was setting in front of the agency waiting for him. He opened the door of the cab and tossed his suitcase on the backseat of the car. "Besides maybe the detective council can help me decipher what's on that damn disk." He turned to Shadow once again. "Are you sure you can handle this? I haven't been away for awhile."

"Vector, stop treating me like a child. I've babysat the team before. Hence why I'm second in command remember?"

The crocodile formed a small smile towards him. "I know. I think I did the right thing when I chose you as the captain. There can be no one as responsible and mature as you…until you get your hands on a beer bottle of course."

The hedgehog crossed his arms and sighed, "Hey I think everyone can blame the booze every once in awhile don't you say?"

Vector shook his head and smiled. "Keep everything and everyone in line for me while I'm gone okay? I'm counting on you, Captain Shadow."

He made a small nod, "Yes, sir." He watched as he finally got inside of the taxi cab. He shut the door behind him.

"Take care of everyone, Shad."

He formed a sly smirk and spoke in an assured tone. "Don't worry I will. Have a safe trip, Vec." He watched as the taxi cab drove off until he couldn't see the car anymore. He made a deep chuckle, "…I'll take real good care of everyone…"

Once Shadow stepped back inside of the agency, a glass vase was thrown at the wall near the doorway. His eyes widened and dropped his clipboard. "Holy fuck!" He looked down at the shattered glass in the floor and glared at Espio and Charmy. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Well", Espio began. "In honor of the big boss man leaving, we have decided to throw a party. And by the way…" He pointed at the kid bee floating beside him. "That was Charmy's fault."

"It's not a party unless you break something super expensive!" The kid bee spoke with a wide smile

The hedgehog paused for the longest time without speaking trying to think of actual words to describe their reckless behavior. "The hell? Are you death? Didn't you hear him preach his way out the door? No parties! No slacking! Don't break things! Especially priceless vases!"

The purple chameleon crossed his arms and sighed as he sat on Tonya's desk. "And here comes Buzz Killington…"

"Come on Captain Shadow, don't you think we've been overworking for just a little?" Charmy spoke.

"Yeah come on, Shad", Tonya spoke as she sat beside Espio on her desk. "We haven't really gotten a chance to actually take it easy."

"Yeah!" Charmy added. "We need a break!"

Rouge even agreed, "I'm all for that. I mean ever since the last mission, all we've been doing is hardcore paperwork and a couple of D rank missions here and there."

The hedgehog frowned and crossed his arms, "Paper pushing? D rank missions? Sounds pretty slack to me." He began to pick up the clipboard he dropped on the floor.

"Dude, why are you so uptight?" Espio asked while he slapped the hedgehog's back making him drop the clipboard once again. "The big cheese is gone. Outta the building! Hell! Out of the freakin' city! He's not here to tell us how hard we should work."

The hedgehog arched an eyebrow towards him. "No he isn't here but I am and I'm in charge so whatever I say, goes and I say no parties."

"Okay, okay fine Mr. tight pants. No parties."

Tonya's face soon lit up with an idea. "Well since this is the weekend, I say we all should go out tomorrow night."

"Go out?" Rouge repeated blankly.

The purple cat nodded, "Yeah there's this new club that opened up around here. We should all go and you know…have some fun."

"That sounds like a great idea, Ton!" Rouge spoke in an excited tone. "You, me, and Tikal can go shopping for some cute outfits."

"I like that idea", she said with an excited look.

"Heh, me too", Espio spoke.

"Hooray!" Charmy shouted in excitement. "Clubbing!"

Tonya giggled over Charmy's excitement then she looked over to Shadow who was picking his clipboard off of the floor again. "And you can come to you stick in the mud."

He gave the group an annoyed look, "Sorry but I don't do parties. You guys have fun." He grabbed a broom and gave it to Espio, "You guys can party all you like after you clean up your mess."

"But…but Charmy threw the vase!" Epsio sighed heavily and Charmy, Tonya, and Rouge were laughing at him while they were all still in the lobby.

Shadow had walked away from the group and started to head towards his office in the back until he bumped into an orange female echidna.

Once she knew she had bumped into him, she immediately jumped back and started to form an uneasy look. "Oh! Shadow! I'm so sorry!"

"No, no. It was an accident. It's okay." Judging by her facial expression, he had figured that she was just really shy around him or really frightened by him.

"Um, it won't happen again." Before she could walk away, Shadow had grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Hold on." When he got her attention, he let go of her arm. "I know we haven't said very much since you started talking and all but…what you knew about me and Rouge…I appreciate that you're keeping things on the down low with everyone. I…didn't know you would get caught up in past drama."

She shook her head slightly, "Oh no it's no problem Shadow, really. I'm just glad that you and Rouge are friends again and everyone is happy."

He let out a small chuckle, "Except Knuckles of course."

"Well, Rouge…she had to know. I hating seeing her so miserable and besides you two seemed like really good friends. I couldn't let something like that ruin your friendship."

The hedgehog made a small smile towards her. "Tikal, you're so sweet. I swear we'll all do our best to help you get your memory back."

She tried to form a smile back at him, "Thank you."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work that needs to be done."

"Of course." She began to walk away as he made his way down the hall. She suddenly stopped in her tracks and held her chest. She could feel her heart beating rapidly inside of her chest. 'What was that? Why did I feel so intimidated just now? What does this mean?'

Shadow stopped in front of his office door holding his chest as well. 'The hell? Who is that bitch? Why does she make me feel like I want to vomit?'

**A/N:**

**Tikal: I'm so excited to spend time with you and Tonya!**

**Rouge: I know you'll have a blast.**

**Tikal: How does this one look?**

**Tonya: No bodysuits please...**

**Rouge: And what's wrong with bodysuits?**

**Tonya: It's official. You've been hanging around Rouge way too long.**

**Rouge: What's that supposed to mean?**

**Tonya: Look at her! She looks like some kind of slutty secretary!**

**Tikal:...**


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

**SHOPPING WITH THE GIRLS**

The next morning, Rouge was laying in her bed catching up on some much needed rest until she heard Tikal call out to her and shake her body to wake her up.

"Rouge? Wake up, Rouge?" Her voice called.

Rouge heavily opened her eyes and saw the orange female echidna standing beside the bed holding a tray full of food. "Uh?"

"Good morning, Rouge!"

She lazily sat up from the bed and noticed that the curtains to her room had been up letting in the bright sunlight in the bedroom. She placed her hand on her forehead and moaned slightly.

"Rise and shine!"

She watched as Tikal placed the tray of food on the bed in front of her.

"I made you breakfast." She watched as Rouge mindlessly stared at it.

The tray had eggs, bacon and orange juice on it.

She noticed she didn't touch the food yet so she assumed she didn't want to eat it. "Um, don't you like it?"

"Of course I like it, hun. It just takes me a minute to get my shit together in the morning."

Tikal made a warm smile and sat in front of her on the bed.

Rouge studied at what Tikal was wearing for her nightwear. She was wearing a large gray t-shirt and underwear even though they weren't visible since the shirt was almost as big as her body. "Heh, we're def gonna get you some new clothes today, Tikal."

"Oh? You want your underwear back?"

"…You stole my underwear?"

"…Was I not supposed to?"

The bat paused for a long time until she shook her head and began to eat some of the eggs that were on her plate, "Keep it, hun."

"Thank you."

"Mhm."

"Is it good?"

"Mhm", she spoke again while she was eating the food.

"I absolutely can't wait to go shopping with you and Tonya today. Tonya is so nice. She let me stay over her house while you and Shadow went on that mission the other day."

Rouge drunk a little bit of the orange juice, "Yeah Tonya's a pretty cool chick. Just stick with me and her and you'll be just fine."

"Us girls gotta stick together right?"

She made a small smile towards her, "Right."

Later during the day, Rouge and Tikal had met up with Tonya at the mall ready to go shopping and getting themselves ready for their outing.

Tonya was sitting at a small table in the food court area drinking a small milkshake until she was Rouge and Tikal approach her. "Oh hey, girls! Ready to do some shopping?"

"You know it!" Rouge spoke in excitement.

"I'm quite excited to spend some quality time with you two", Tikal spoke.

"Girl, when we're done with you, you won't even be able to recognize yourself!" Tonya said in eagerness.

A sweat drop formed on the side of the echidna's head, "Um, should I be worried if I don't recognize yourself?"

"As long as I keep you away from the bodysuits, you should be just fine." The cat made a sly look towards Rouge from the comment she made.

"Hey! Don't be dissing on the bodysuits!"

Tikal smiled wide at the two.

Much later, Rouge and Tonya were debating on what Tikal's style should be. Tikal sat on a bench inside of a store while Rouge and Tonya were trying to debate on what would look better for her.

Tonya was holding up a yellow sundress, "Bright and colorful dresses suits Tikal's good natured style."

Rouge held up a green halter top and a pair of blue skinny denim jeans. "Yeah right! If you wanted to make her look like a banana!"

"What? You're the one who wants to show off every inch and curve of her body to the public! We're trying to make her blend in with society!"

Rouge and Tonya gave each other glares then turned to Tikal. "What do you think?"

"Um…um…I'm sure I can always try them on." She spoke with a small uneasy laugh.

It was hours later of Tikal trying on many outfits and Tikal had finally decided what kind of outfits suited her. "This is it, girls! I found the inner me!" She shouted from the dressing room.

Tonya and Rouge waited eagerly outside of the dressing room to see what she had wanted to wear for her outfit. "Come on out, Tikal! Let's see!"

"Okay girls, feast your eyes!"

When she finally stepped out of the dressing room, Tonya and Rouge were completely silent.

The two were gazing upon the clothes she was wearing. She wore a green long sleeve blazer with a white collar shirt underneath, a green pencil mini skirt to match, and black high heeled shoes.

She noticed their silence and wasn't quite sure if they liked it or not. "Well? What do you think?"

"Well uh…" Tonya began. "At least your somewhat well covered up and professional."

Rouge crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow towards the cat. "She looks like a damn secretary."

"What!"

"She spends one night with you and you turn her into some kind of naughty secretary."

"Oh please! She got the mini skirt and the high heels from you!"

While the two were arguing, she admired at the way she looked in a big door mirror. She spun around and giggled softly. "I think I look fabulous!"

Tonya and Rouge smiled warmly at how happy she was.

"Well, we got enough clothes for her anyway", Rouge said.

"Yeah" Tonya agreed. "Let's get ready to hit the club tonight."

**A/N:**

**Espio: Bout time you ladies got here!**

**Charmy: This place sure is rocking!**

**Espio: Make sure you ladies don't drink too much.**

**Tikal: Oh Espio, you worry too much.**

**Rouge: ...What are you doing here?**

**Shadow: You and I belong in the darkness...**


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13**

**A MUCH NEEDED BREAK**

Later that night, Tonya, Rouge, and Tikal arrived at the club. When they stepped inside, it was a surprisingly huge club. A lot of people were on the dance floor dancing and socializing. Tonya was wearing a knee high light blue, sleeveless dress, and black high heels. Tikal was wearing a white tank top, blue denim skinny jeans, and white high heels. And Rouge was wearing a black strapless knee high dress with black high heels.

Tonya was reading a text from her phone while the three of them were walking around the huge club. "Espio just texted me. He says he's at the bar with Charmy."

"Heh typical Espio huh?" Rouge teased.

With the loud music, dark lighting, and lots of people, Tikal felt quite overwhelmed and nervous being in such an atmosphere. She made sure she stood close to Tonya and Rouge.

When they got to the bar, they saw a purple chameleon sitting at the bar counter drinking from a shot glass. He was wearing a blue blazer with a white shirt underneath, black pants, and white sneakers. Beside him was a black and yellow bee drinking out of a shot glass as well. He was wearing a yellow jacket, blue shorts, and white and orange shoes. He surprisingly had his helmet off revealing his yellow and black hair.

Tonya's heart raced as she saw Charmy drinking from a shot glass.

The chameleon turned to the group of girls with a wide grin. "Oh hey, girls! Bout time you got here!"

Charmy spun around to confront the group as well and waved to them. "Hi!"

"Espio!" Tonya exclaimed. "How could you? Charmy's not old enough to drink!"

The chameleon rose a brow to her, "Of course he isn't!" He took the glass out of Charmy's hand and held it up in front of Tonya.

She stared at the yellowish liquid in the shot glass.

"Relax, cat girl. It's just apple juice."

"…Your lucky. If Vector found out you were giving him alcohol…"

He chuckled bit, "You need to chill." He looked over to Rouge and Tikal. "You're all looking nice tonight. Mind if I buy you all drinks?"

Tonya rose her hand up rejecting his offer. "No thanks. You know I don't drink. But some water would be fine."

"I'll take a glass of some strawberry wine", Rouge said.

Tikal couldn't see herself being a drinking type of person but since everyone seemed to be having fun, she decided to give it a try. "I'll have what Rouge is having."

"Coming right up."

While Espio was talking to the bartenders, Charmy was grooving to the music on the stool he was sitting on. "This place sure is rocking huh?"

Tikal started to groove to the music a bit while she was standing. "I agree. I also like this music."

Rouge made a small smile as she saw her enjoying herself. "Well, look at you. Someone's having fun already." She then saw Espio walk up to them and gave them their drinks. "Thanks, Es."

"No problem." Before he handed Tikal her drink, he started to warn her about drinking too much. "Now I know you don't remember if you're a drinker or not but just in case, try not to drink too much. I don't want you getting hurt or anything."

The orange echidna took the drink from him and made a reassuring smile that she would be fine and could handle drinking. "Oh Espio, you worry too much", she said as she took a sip from the glass.

A few hours passed and Rouge was sitting at the far end of the bar counter watching everyone have so much fun. She saw Tikal and Charmy talking to each other at one end of the bar counter. She saw Charmy bursting out laughing and Tikal resting her head on her hand while she leaned against the counter. She saw her giggling every now and then. Judging by her facial expression, she looked intoxicated. She made a small smile towards them.

She tried to find Tonya and Espio in the crowd of people until she spotted them talking to each other near the dance floor. Her eyes widened as she saw him stroking his hand around her waist and talking into her ear. She saw the purple cat giggle and saw them both walking onto the dance floor. She never thought that Tonya would ever consider dancing with Espio but she figured that deep down she had liked him. Her smile faded when she saw the two slow dancing to a slow song that was playing. She looked back at Tikal and Charmy who were admiring the two dancing with each other.

A sudden sadness had overcame her and she couldn't bring herself to watch the two dance with each other any longer. She left the bar and decided to wander upstairs of the club. Even upstairs she saw couples holding each other close and kissing one another. She let out a saddened sigh and leaned over the railing to look down at everyone else dancing and having a good time. She slowly shook her head as she tried to fight off tears trying to escape her. She closed her eyes and decided to let a tear fall from her face. She jumped a bit when she heard a cold and deep voice talking into her ear.

"You're crying…"

Her eyes widened once she heard the familiar voice. She calmed herself once she remembered that there was only one person who could talk in such a mysterious tone. "What are you doing here?" She didn't turn her head but she could tell from the corner of her eye that there was a black and red male hedgehog standing behind her.

"Since everyone else was getting some fresh air, I decided to wander out myself."

She continued to look down at everyone else dancing sadly. She felt his body getting closer to her until she felt him wrap his arms around her waist and began holding her close from behind.

"What's bothering you?"

"…If I told you, you would hate me."

He rested his head on her bare shoulder, "Try me."

She sighed heavily as she began to tell him what was on her mind. "…I know that he's a lying, cheating, scumbag but…I miss him."

He figured she was talking about Knuckles, "…What do you miss about him?"

"Well", she began. "I miss the way he would call me beautiful and that there was no other girl out there like me. I miss how he held me close…I…I miss how he kissed me. I miss…"

"…Being loved?"

More tears began to stream down her face.

"If that echidna was ever right about anything, he is right about you. You are beautiful. You're not like every other woman out there. You're different…we're both different." He looked down at the people dancing and talking below them. "Look at them and look at us. They all have a burning flame full of love and hope deep in their hearts. While we have an endless pit of darkness inside of us." He whispered into her ear, "Rouge, you and I don't have a place here. No matter how hard we try to fit in. You and I will always and forever belong in the darkness…"

She felt him pressing his lips against her cheek and down to her neck. "…Shadow…"

"Society will never accept us…"

She felt his hands stroking her thighs lightly. She let out a small gasp when she felt him stroking the inside of her thighs.

"We're the freaks…" He whispered as he gently pressed his lips against her neck and continued to stroke his fingers against her.

"Because we've accepted the darkness…"

She shook her head as more tears ran down her face. "No…" She murmured. "Just…stop!" She suddenly pushed him away and stormed her way downstairs leaving the club.

**A/N:**

**Shadow: I...I didn't mean...**

**Rouge: ...You were right...you were right about everything...**

**Tonya: Where the hell were you last night?**

**Rouge: Um...**

**Tikal: My head hurts so much...**


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

**END OF THE ROAD**

Rouge flung the back door open of the club and made her way out into the cold and dark alley. She leaned her back against the cold wall of the building and held her bare arms to keep warm while she sobbed. Her heart was racing and her legs were shaking. She didn't know what to do and she didn't know what to think. She was on such a verge of a breakdown and she wanted to believe that everything Shadow had told her was a lie. She tried to wipe some of the tears away from her face until she heard footsteps approaching her. Startled, she looked and saw a black hedgehog approaching her with his black trench coat blowing in the cold wind.

"Rouge, I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No…" she spoke in a hoarse voice. "You were right…" She looked down at the wet pavement, "You were right about everything…" She bit her lip, "No wonder Knuckles left me. I have so much darkness inside of me. I…I'm alone. Now I know how you've been feeling all this time. I know exactly how it feels."

The hedgehog shook his head slowly as he walked up to her. "No…you're not alone." He placed his hands on both of her cheeks making her look up at him. "And neither am I."

Tears swelled in her eyes as she looked into his, "…Shadow…"

"We'll never have to be alone again." He embraced his body against hers.

While he held her, she looked into his eyes and saw him leaning closer to her until his lips had met hers. After a moment, she had broke away from him and tried to remember the last time the two had shared a kiss. It had happened so long ago it seemed and at that time it seemed far different from this time. However, she didn't care less about what happened between them in the past. What mattered to her was that he was there for her now. She pressed her lips against his again and that time it was more passionate. She could feel their tongues dancing in the inside of their mouths. She was taken in by their heated passion. She felt her body being pushed into the cold wall of the building.

His hands roamed around her body as he kissed her. His hands stroked the inside of her thighs.

She gasped and moaned as he began to stroke her. She felt him kissing her neck and her dressing being lifted. She panted heavily as he inserted his fingers into her wet opening. She wrapped her arms around his neck when she felt him lifting her body off of the ground. She suddenly felt her underwear being ripped off of her and heard his pants being undone.

He kissed her lips once more, "I've always dreamed about this happening again."

She winced and gripped onto his shoulders when she felt him slipping inside of her. Her moans got louder as he went faster and faster with every trust.

"Rouge", he whispered. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes", she panted. "I do."

He formed a smirk before pressing his lips against her neck once more.

Her eyes widened when she suddenly felt a sharp pain going into her neck. She could feel blood trickling down her neck and down her chest. She wanted to scream but she held it in by sinking her nails into his back while he bit into her. Her cries of pleasure were the sweet sounds of their love being made into the dark and cold night.

The next morning, Rouge had awoken in her bed by the sunlight's rays coming through the blinds of the curtains. Her bed sheets were covering her bare naked body. She winced from the searing pain from her neck. As she felt the pain, a vivid flashback of what had happened last night kept repeating itself in her head. As she thought of what happened between her and Shadow, she had wondered if it really was just a dream. She slowly turned her head to the right of her and saw a black and red hedgehog laying in the bed beside her.

The hedgehog was sleeping peacefully like a sweet child.

While she stared at him sleeping, she was now assured that the night the two shared together was not a dream. She slowly rose her head up from her pillow and stretched her arms a bit.

From the slight movements she was making on the bed, it had awoken him as well. He peaked his eyes open and saw the bat woman stretching her body. A small smile formed on his lips while he admired her gorgeous body.

She was taken by surprise when she felt him embrace her with his bare body from behind.

"Good morning, my sweet princess."

Her eyes shifted over and saw him holding her from behind and had his head leaning against her back. "Oh you're awake?"

"…What time is it?"

She didn't bother looking for the clock to tell him exactly what time it was. "It's still pretty early."

His eyes stared at the red mark on her neck and figured that the mark he made on her neck was hurting her. "…Does it hurt?"

She thought that he was talking about the bite mark on her neck. She lightly placed her hand on the mark and it did hurt a little more when she touched it.

"I'm sorry", he spoke. "I was too rough with you."

Rouge had to admit that it was way too rough. She figured that he would be quite aggressive while in bed but in a strange way she enjoyed it while he was being intimate with her.

"You just tasted so good…I wanted more of you…every inch of you…"

She lightly blushed and formed a small smile when she looked away from him. "No it's fine. I loved what happened between us last night. I loved every moment of it." She then felt him take his body from hers and heard him get out of the bed. She saw him walking over to the mirror on her table and started looking in the mirror. "So", she began. "What's gonna happen?"

"What do you mean?" He asked while he looked away from the mirror and began to dress himself.

"…About us." She looked down and started to fiddle with her fingers. She heard him pause for a moment while he was dressing himself. It worried her. She didn't want to hear him say that everything was an accident and he never wanted for anything to happen between him again. Before she could speak again, he had spoken.

"Well…", he began while he was putting on his shirt. "…I personally wouldn't say anything to anyone only for the sole purpose that you and I are partners for one. And two, if we told anyone that we were seeing each other, they would just try to bring us down and convince us that we shouldn't see each other."

She never rose her head up to look at him and bit her lip. She wanted to tell the others about her and Shadow but at the same time, he was right. To know everyone's reaction about them, she would figure they would start criticizing them and give her reasons not to see him anymore. And it would bring massive complications within the team. Their would be disagreements and everyone would be upset for sudden favoritism.

Once Shadow got done dressing himself, he sat down on the bed with her.

She looked up at him and made a nod. "You're right. We should keep things on the down low."

He formed a small smile and held her hand. "It would just make things more easier."

She again made a small nod, "Yeah…"

He leaned over to her and kissed her forehead.

The two was startled by a sudden pounding at her front door.

Rouge's mouth hung open as she heard Tonya's angry voice shouting from outside.

"Rouge! I know you're here! Open this door! Now!"

"It's Tonya!" She instantly jumped out of bed and quickly began to put on her pink knee high robe. She took a quick glimpse of herself in the mirror and thought that it would be best to leave her hair down. She thought it she saw the mark, she would begin to question what had happened with her last night. She spun around and turned to the surprisingly calm hedgehog who was still sitting on the bed. "Shadow! Um…"

"I know", he spoke as he got off of the bed. "I need to go."

She walked over to him and leaned against his body. "…Yeah. But…I don't want you to."

He placed a finger under her chin and made her look into his eyes. "We'll see each other tomorrow."

She didn't think she could wait that long. "I'm hoping sooner."

He made a warm smile and cupped her face before kissing her. "…I love you, babe."

Now she truly did believe that everything was a dream. Never in her wildest fantasies that she would hear him say that he loved her and didn't take it back. She wanted to pinch herself to know if everything was actually real. She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw him quickly leave her bedroom and rush downstairs. She thought that he would probably try to avoid Tonya by using the back door. She sighed heavily and tried to get herself together before confronting a furious Tonya.

Outside of Rouge's home, a purple cat woman continued to bang her fist against the door. She growled under her breath and tapped her foot on and off the ground repeatedly. "That woman! I swear! What was she thinking leaving you at the club last night?" She asked when she spun around to the orange female echidna who was holding her head.

She groaned slightly when she felt her head throbbing in pain. "I think I drank a little too much last night."

Tonya sighed heavily as she remembered Tikal getting really intoxicated and talking and flirting with every guy who was flirting with her. "Well at least you weren't dancing on top of tables naked." Her ears perked up when she heard the door being unlocked in front of her and soon the door had flung open. The cat glared at a white bat woman who was standing at the doorway wearing nothing but a robe. "Rouge!" She shouted furiously. "We need to talk!"

"Tonya, please", she begged. "Before you begin, I have a good explanation why I left early last night."

"You had better! Tikal stays with you in case you forgot! She got drunk and I had to take her home with me!"

"I know! I know! I'm really, really sorry, guys!"

"Well?" The cat spoke in a heated tone, "What happened with you last night?"

She felt bad for leaving Tikal in Tonya's care without saying anything and she would feel even worse for lying about the reason why. "You see…I…I…wasn't feeling very well…so I decided to go home."

Tonya and Tikal just stood there and gave her a blank look.

Judging by their looks, they seemed like they weren't falling for her story. "I was just feeling so bad, I wasn't thinking…so I just took off without saying anything. I'm so sorry, guys. Please forgive me."

Tonya crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "Well, you were drinking a little too so I guess that can be partially the reason why you were acting so crazy."

The orange echidna made her way inside of her house while still holding her head. "She said she was sorry and I forgive her. I just want to lay down right now."

Rouge formed a small smile towards her and figured she had a hangover from drinking so much. "Of course you can, sweetie. I'll even give you some pills and water for that headache of yours."

She made a small smile and walked away from them as she was trying to get comfortable within the house.

Rouge looked back at Tonya who was still giving her a confused look.

"Are you sure you're alright, Rouge? You're acting kind of weird."

She shook her head slowly, "No, no. Everything is just fine. I'm just feeling tired."

Even after hearing her swear up and down that she was fine, she still believed that she was lying. "…Okay well…I'll see you at work tomorrow. Get plenty of rest."

"Thanks, Ton." After when she watched her walk away, she shut her door softly and decided to rest for another day of work the next day.

**A/N:**

**Espio: What's he up to?**

**Shadow: I have a proposition for you...**

**Damon: No! Not this fucker again!**

**Razi: That's it! It's over! We're gonna get arrested and go to jail! And I'll never able to enjoy my grandmother's peanut butter cookies ever again!**

**Allan: What's in it for us?**

**Shadow: I have access to security codes...passwords...the works...**

**Damon: I don't trust this guy...**


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15**

**BRIBE**

Later on that day, Epsio was walking around Tech City taking a stroll to enjoy the beautiful day. He was wearing blue jeans, purple and black shoes, a blue jacket, a red shirt underneath, and a red scarf. He was holding his arms while he was trying to warm himself up from the cold winds. He shook a bit from the wind. "It's really starting to feel like winter now", he spoke in a low voice. "Should've worn a sweater or something." Before he walked around the corner of a building, he spotted a male black and red hedgehog wearing a long black trench coat, black pants, a green scarf, and familiar jet shoes. His eyes widened when he saw the male hedgehog. "Shadow?" He kept behind the corner and watched the hedgehog leaving from the library and walking down the sidewalk with him holding an old looking thick paged brown book. "I wonder what he's up to?"

Meanwhile late in the afternoon, a gray male rabbit, a brown male monkey, and a male orange beaver were hanging out in a fairly big basement below an average looking two story white house. The monkey and beaver were sitting in bean bag chairs playing a video game while the rabbit was sitting down in a small wooden chair watching them play on the small television in front of them.

The rabbit yawned while he watched them both play the game.

"Ha! Take that and that!" The monkey taunted with an evil smirk.

"Hey! No fair, Damon!" The beaver shouted. "You're cheating! Cheating motherfucker!"

The monkey snickered, "Naw you're just a pussy at this game!"

"You know, guys", the rabbit started. "I'm so glad we stopped working for that Krad guy months ago."

"Tell me about it, Allan", the monkey added. "That guy was a major pain in the ass."

"Whatever happened to him anyway?" The beaver asked.

"Hm? I don't know what happened after we bailed. Maybe he's still alive and somewhere out there", the rabbit assumed while he was fixing the oval shaped glasses over his eyes.

"Well, I hope that freak doesn't come up in here and try to track us down", The monkey said.

They then were suddenly startled when they heard footsteps coming from down the stairs. They all turned to an elderly orange beaver woman who was standing on the staircase.

"I hope you all are behaving down here."

The beaver's eyes shifted over to the elder woman, "Yeah, yeah grandma. We're doing well. You don't have to check up on us you know?"

She made a small nod, "I know. I know. But Razi, you have a visitor."

The beaver and the rest of the group arched an eyebrow towards the woman in confusion. None of them were expecting anyone to come by and see them at this time of the afternoon. "A visitor?"

She made a slight nod, "Why yes." She stepped to the side and beside her stood a black and red male hedgehog who gave the group a sinister smile.

Damon and Razi dropped the game controllers that were in their hands and as well as their jaws as they stared at the hedgehog.

The older woman continued, "He says he's an old friend of you and your friends. He says he's been dying to reconnect with you all." She turned to the hedgehog with a warm smile, "Can I offer you anything, young man? Brownies? Cookies? I make some mean peanut butter cookies."

"Well that sounds divine. I would love some."

"Lovely." She turned back to a frozen Allan, Razi, and Damon, "Well you kids play nice", she spoke as she wandered back upstairs.

When the hedgehog heard the door shut softly, his evil smile deepened upon his face. "Oh, we will…won't we?"

Allan gave the hedgehog a cold look when he saw him coming from down the stairs. "You found our little hiding spot. Congratu-fucking-lations…"

"It wasn't hard really", he said while he sat down in a wooden chair across from them. "I mean come on. You dorks live with your grandmother."

"Razi's grandmother", Damon corrected. "Allan and I use his grandmother's basement for our base of operations."

"Yeah!" Razi spoke, "This is our personal headquarters."

A sweat drop formed on the side of his head, "Sooo you guys are still a bunch of lowlife nerdy fucks? Great."

Allan crossed his arms as he grew tired of his insults towards them. "We quit Krad's little game months ago. We're not working for anyone. So what do you want? Our arrest?"

He shook his head slowly. "I could arrest you…for abduction, stealing, being accomplices of a criminal, use of illegal weapons…the list could go on really."

The three were infuriated with the hedgehog as he continued to speak.

"But no, I'm not here to arrest you. I'm actually here to make a proposition with you all."

The gray rabbit arched his eyebrow towards him. "What kind of proposition?"

"Since you all are kind of smart and good with computers and whatnot, I thought you all could be quite useful to me…"

They saw him take out a huge, brown, and old looking booking and set it on the table in front of them. They all stared at the book in curiosity.

"This book contains pages full of powerful spells, charms, potions, and powerful artifacts."

Damon couldn't find out what was so special about the old book, "So?"

Shadow continued, "So there's this special item I wanted to find…" He flipped through some of the pages until he had came across a page that had a black and white picture of a an upside down looking triangle shaped talisman with a snake design on it. "This is called the Devil Bond. I have done my bit of research and it's been said that whoever possess the Devil Bond talisman shall have the power to unite and become one with its host."

"Great", Damon said. "Mystical satanic bullshit. You're like one of those hardcore Goths."

"Oh you wish I was using it for some kind of bullshit purpose like that", he snarled.

"Okay hold up", Razi spoke. "What's exactly in it for us?"

"You guys still wanna be big shots right?" He reached inside of his coat pocket and took out a handful of money and slammed it down onto the table.

The three of them stared at the money mindlessly like they have never see money before in their lives.

"This…", he started. "…Isn't even half of what I will pay you and not only that, I have access to security codes, passwords, and even enough information to bring down the Chaotix team."

Allan's mouth hung open when he had mentioned the Chaotix. He couldn't believe he would release private information to them. It didn't even sound like his character.

"I can put you all at the top. What do you truly want? Money? Women? You could have it all if you decide to work for me."

Damon gritted his teeth and shook his head. "…I don't believe you! You're lying so you can use us!"

"Hey he's right!" Razi exclaimed. "He could be just bribing us so he can use and then throw us in the slammer afterwards!"

Allan clenched his fists as he glared into the hedgehog's eyes. "Even if we didn't do as you wanted, you still would have us arrested and thrown in jail."

The hedgehog formed an evil smirk and shook his head slowly. "Oh no I wouldn't throw you in jail…I would kill you."

All of their hearts were racing inside of their chests. They were trying to tell if he was truly telling the truth or just bluffing about everything.

Suddenly, they all heard the door open and footsteps coming from downstairs. They all turned and saw Razi's grandmother approaching them and placing a plate of cookies down on the table in front of them.

"I hope you kids worked up an appetite."

After what Allan, Razi, and Damon heard from Shadow, they weren't feeling very hungry. They saw Shadow take a cookie off of the plate and took a bite into it. "Ma'am you weren't lying. You do make amazing peanut butter cookies."

She watched him finish the cookie. "I'm so glad you like it." She turned to Razi, Allan, and Damon. "If you need anything else, just say so."

"…Thanks, grandma", Razi spoke as he watched his grandmother walk back upstairs and closing the door behind her.

Before any of them could speak, Shadow had spoken first, "Razi, you're grandmother is such a sweet old lady. It would be a shame if something were to happen to her…"

The beaver was then infuriated and wanted to jump across the table to punch the hedgehog but Allan and Damon made sure he was under control. "You stay away from my grandmother, you bastard!"

He chuckled deeply, "Oh? Did I hit a nerve there?"

Allan's body began to shake in fear. He suddenly had high doubts that the hedgehog in the room with them was not Shadow The Hedgehog. He seemed like a totally different person. Even though they were never close to get to know Shadow on a personal level, they knew that Shadow cared about his friends and teammates a lot. And judging by how he was talking, he acted like he couldn't care less about them if he would sell the entire Chaotix out to get what he had wanted. He even had a feeling he wasn't even a mere Mobian. "…You…you're not Shadow are you?"

Another evil chuckle escaped the hedgehog.

"…Wh-Who the fuck are you?" He watched him stand up from the chair he was sitting in and stare at a picture that was setting on a desk. The picture was of Allan, Damon, and Razi playing together when they were younger.

"…Let's just say that Shadow and I are really close…" He looked away from the picture and back at the frightened group. "So…you guys gonna help me?"

Allan looked over to Damon and Razi with both of them having frightened expressions on their faces. He sighed heavily and looked back at the black hedgehog. "Like we have a choice…"

"Well…" He began as he crossed his arms and smirked evilly, "…I'm glad you all could comply."

Allan's heart skipped a beat as he looked closer and saw sharp fangs appearing from his mouth. 'What?' He thought, 'Just what is he?'

**A/N:**

**Espio: Okay is it just me or is Shadow acting like an extra dick today?**

**Tonya: Maybe he's just upset about something?**

**Charmy: But he's always upset!**

**Tikal: The headache? It's back?**

**Shadow: I couldn't get you off of my mind at all...**

**Rouge: I love you so much, Shadow...**


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER 16**

**URGES**

The next day, Rouge had walked into the Chaotix with Tikal by her side. It was getting colder so instead of wearing her usual pink uniform, she wore a purple jacket, a light pink skirt, pink boots, and a pink scarf. She saw Espio sitting on Tonya's desk talking to her and Charmy who was floating next to them listening to Espio talk. She decided to see what was going on by approaching the group. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Before Espio could speak, Tonya had spoken up. "Trying not to do any work but of course how can we with Espio gossiping about the great blue sky?"

An annoyed look formed on the purple chameleon's face, "Hey I'm not trying to gossip. All I'm saying is I saw Shad yesterday leaving the library."

Rouge's heart skipped a beat when Espio spoke of Shadow's name. Just saying his name just reminded her of the night they shared together.

Charmy put on a teasing face, "Espio's stalking Captain Shadow."

"I was not stalking him! I just randomly saw him." He crossed his arms and sighed, "I was gonna say hey but he seemed like he had a lot on his mind so I just left him alone."

A sweat drop appeared on the side of Tonya's head. "If you ask me Shad always has something on his mind."

"Well", Espio began. "He just didn't look like he was in the mood."

"But Captain Shadow is never in the mood", Charmy joked.

"You're right, Charms. I can't even remember the last time the guy pulled the stick out of his ass", he started to burst out laughing until he saw everyone's nervous faces fall upon him. He knew that could only mean one thing. "…He's right behind me isn't he?"

Everyone slowly nodded.

The chameleon slowly turned to an annoyed black hedgehog with his arms crossed across his chest while he was holding a brown clipboard. "Heh, hey Shad! We were just talking about you, dude."

"Yeah", he spoke in an angered tone. "So I've heard."

Just by looking at Shadow, Tikal held her head as it suddenly started hurting. 'The headache…', she thought. 'It's back?'

"Don't you all have work that needs to be done? Just because Vector is out of the city, it doesn't mean to slack around and gossip. This is a detective agency. Not a high school."

Espio sighed heavily and jumped off of Tonya's desk, "All right, all right already. Calm down. We'll stop playing around, Shad. I promise."

"You had better or I will start writing you all up and reporting you to Vector."

Everyone remained silent as they all looked at one another.

Shadow's eyes had shifted over to Rouge, "Rouge, I need to see you in my office right now."

They all looked at Rouge thinking that she would get in trouble for something idiotic like not showing up on time. They saw her following him into the back on their way to his office.

Once they had left the lobby, Espio turned the group again. "Okay is it just me or is Shadow acting like an extra dick today?"

Tonya shook her head slowly as she tried not to say anymore about Shadow. "He's probably just upset about something? I don't know…we should just drop it before we get in trouble." The phone had rang on her desk and she went on ahead and picked it up and began talking.

Espio saw Charmy make his way to the garage to begin his tasks as well. The chameleon sighed and turned to Tikal. "Anyway…" He began as he talked to her, "Hey Tikal have you gotten any of your memory back yet?"

The echidna shook her head sadly as she still didn't have a clue on what was going on with her. "Unfortunately no."

"Well lucky for you, I'm one hell of a medic so I have a few techniques that might could jog your memory again. Wanna give it a go?"

Deep down, she had doubted that anything would work but she would do anything to give it a try. She made a nod and smiled towards him, "Okay let's do it."

Meanwhile, once Rouge walked into Shadow's office she had wondered why he wanted to suddenly see her. She saw Shadow close the door and lock it behind her. "So", she began. "Why did you want to see me?" She saw him set down the clipboard on his desk and turn to her while he leaned against his desk.

"Because…I just wanted to see you."

A deep blush began to form on her face.

"I missed you babe. I swear I couldn't get you out of my head yesterday."

The blush deepened on her face, "…Really, Shadow?"

He made a small nod as he made a warm smile at her, "You were all I was thinking about."

She smiled warmly as she approached him and embraced him. She looked up at him and gave him a passionate kiss. "I missed you too, baby." As she kissed him, she could feel her scarf being taken off of her exposing the last bite mark he had made on her.

He dropped her scarf to the floor and began to caress her body. He took his lips from hers and slowly made his way down to her neck. He kissed her neck gently.

She moaned slightly and ran her hands around his back. "Shadow…"

"You're so beautiful, babe and…so fucking delicious…" He hungrily licked his lips as he teased himself. Her body, her scent, everything about that moment was turning him on. He began to part his fangs ready to bite into her neck once more until Rouge suddenly pulled away.

"Shad, are you sure we should be doing this here? I mean what if someone comes in and…" His finger was suddenly pressed against her lips.

"As long as we be quiet, we won't get caught", he said while started to undo the zipper to her jacket. He took the jacket off and threw it onto the floor revealing her black halter top. She smiled and blushed again as she felt his hands touch her body once more.

He leaned over to her and whispered sensually in her ear. "I want you on my desk, guns girl."

Before she could even move, he had picked her body up and set her on his desk. She wrapped her arms around him as he leaned in to kiss her lips once more. She felt his hands roam around her lower body. She let out a small gasp when she felt his hand go under her skirt and started to rub her opening. She quivered when she felt his hands touch her.

He took her underwear off of her and began to slid his fingers inside of her wet opening.

The bat gripped her hands on his shoulders as he fingered her. She took her lips from his and held onto him while he was pleasuring her. "Oh God, Shadow", she spoke softly.

He kissed her again and took his fingers out of her. He unzipped his pants and took out his large member. He formed a smirk and lightly pushed her down onto the desk. His body was on top of hers as he was ready to make her his once again. He lightly kissed her chest, "I love you, Rouge. I love you so much."

Her heart wanted to skip again as she heard him say that he loved her once again. She began to think that she would never get tired of hearing him say it. She loved how much he said that he loved her. She caressed his face and kissed his lips. "I love you too, Shadow." She winced and let out a groan as he began to shove himself inside of her tight opening.

He began to thrust himself in and out of her slowly.

More pleasurable moans began to escape Rouge while he was starting to go faster and faster. "Oh God, Shadow", she moaned.

He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear as he went inside of her deeper. "Don't get too loud, sweetheart."

At first she was beginning to forget where they both were so it was a good thing he had reminded her. She held onto him tighter as he went faster and harder. "It feels so good", she spoke in aroused tone.

"That's good, babe", he spoke softly. "I want to make you feel like a fucking princess." He leaned closer to her neck again and licked his lips wanting to bite into her again.

"…Shadow?", Rouge had called.

He paused as she called out to him.

"…Bite me…" She panted.

His ruby red eyes widened. He couldn't believe that she had actually wanted him to bite into her again. With her allowing him to do it, it just made him not want to even hesitate anymore.

"Please", she begged. "I love it when you bite into me…and make me bleed…" She dug her nails into his back, "It makes the pain go away…"

He didn't understand what she had meant but at that moment he didn't really care to try to figure her out. He placed his hand over her mouth to prevent her from getting louder as he bit her. He leaned in again, parted his fangs and without hesitation, he had sunk them into her soft neck. He had heard her trying to get louder with his hand over his mouth but fortunate enough for him, it was only loud enough for them to hear.

She felt him thrust slower yet harder as he bit into her. She felt the blood trickling down her neck and his warm come being splashed inside of her.

Before he took himself out of her, he licked up as much blood as he could that was being drawn out of her neck. He then pulled out of her and took his body off of hers.

Rouge laid there on the desk for a moment to catch her breath from all of the intense excitement.

Shadow began to worry a bit as she just saw her there heaving her chest and breathing heavily. "Babe?" He called, "Are you all right?"

She slowly rose her body from the desk and stared into his eyes mindlessly.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to get that rough with you again. I just couldn't control myself and…" He was suddenly pulled into a passionate kiss by the bat girl.

Despite the fact that there was blood all around his mouth, she pretended not to care and just want to feel his lips against hers once more.

He pulled away from her and gave her a blank look. "…Rouge?"

"I fucking love you, Shadow. I love you so much…"

He made a warm smile and kissed her forehead, "I love you too, baby." His eyes flashed over to her bloody neck, "I'll bandage that up for you and then you can get back to work."

She saw him searching for some gauze in one of his desk drawers. A warm smile formed on her face as she thought that she could definitely get used to spending time with Shadow like this every day.

**A/N:**

**Knuckles: I know it was you! You told Shadow about us!**

**Julie-Su: It wasn't fair to her damn it!**

**Tikal: I'm starting to believe that I'll never get my memory back...**

**Allan: His smile...his laugh...his eyes...they're demonic...**

**Shadow: When I get that talisman, I will become unstoppable!**


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER 17**

**GUILT**

Meanwhile on Angel Island, Knuckles was sitting on the steps of the shrine of the Master Emerald. He had his head resting on his hand looking deep in thought. He snapped out his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching him. He slowly looked up to see a pink female echidna standing in front of him. He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he gazed upon her presence. "What are you doing here, Julie?"

She fiddled with her fingers before she began to speak to him. "I was wondering if you heard anything else from Rouge."

"She hasn't talked to me since we broke up." He had wondered why Julie was suddenly so interested if he and Rouge had talked to each other lately. "Why do you want to know anyway?"

"Well I talked to her a few days ago and I asked her about that strange girl. She said she was doing well and was talking just fine. She just lost her memory."

He huffed angrily, "I would've known about it sooner if Rouge never broke up with me."

"Knuckles…"

"I know it was you Julie! You told Shadow about us and he went around and told Rouge!"

She clenched her fists in annoyance at the enraged echidna. "I don't know why you're so upset! You're the one who wanted to fool around! It's your own fault that you wrecked your relationship with her!"

"No!" He stood up and angrily confronted her. "Why did you tell him?"

"Because it wasn't fair to her damn it!"

He paused for a moment.

"If you really cared about her, you wouldn't have done what you did!"

He sighed sadly as he looked down at the ground. He didn't want to admit it but she was right. His relationship with Rouge ended because of what he had done with Julie. "You're right. It is my fault and I feel like a total jackass for hurting her."

"Well", she spoke while she crossed her arms, "You're right about being a jackass."

"I wish I could make it up to her and make things right again but I don't think she'll ever forgive me."

"Well at least you realized what you did. I feel pretty bad myself for being apart of it. I mean Rouge is a good friend and I never wanted to cause her any heartache."

"At least she's still talking to you."

She made a small nod, "I told her if it was okay for me to stop by her place tomorrow so I can just catch up and talk. You know? Girl stuff."

Knuckles had to admit that he was jealous of Julie going to see Rouge tomorrow. He wanted to see her and talk things out with her but he knew that she was still clearly upset with him. He thought it would be a bad idea to even attempt to visit her in Tech City. "Well since your going to see her could you tell her I said hey."

She paused for a moment and decided if she wanted to deliver the message or not but she didn't see the harm in it. "Yeah I sure will."

Back at the Chaotix in the resting room, Espio was sitting in a gray chair observing Tikal who was against the wall standing on her head. "Well?" He spoke eagerly, "How do you feel?"

She struggled to keep standing on her head. "I feel…I feel…"

"Yes? Yes?" He asked eagerly.

"…I feel like a jackass."

A sweat drop formed on the side of his head at her answer. He then saw the echidna girl fall to the floor with a thump. "You okay, Tikal?"

She slowly got off of the floor and brushed the dirt from the floor off of her green blazer and green mini skirt. "Yeah I think so."

The door to the room had suddenly opened and they both saw a white bat girl coming into the room with a confused expression.

"What the hell is going on in here?"

Tikal had sat on the small bed covered in white sheets. "Oh Espio was trying to help me get my memory back."

She closed the door behind her and placed her hands on her hips. "Really? It sounds like you two are throwing each other against the walls in here."

Espio had noticed that Rouge was still wearing her pink scarf completely covering her neck. "Why are you so bundled up? It's pretty warm in here."

Her heart raced as he asked about her wardrobe. "Oh! Um I got pretty chilly that's all."

He arched an eyebrow towards her and found it strange that she was acting so weird. "Anyway…" However he shook it off and grabbed the brown clipboard off of the white countertop beside him and began flipping through the papers on it. "I don't understand. We tried everything and nothing is working to get her memory back."

Tikal sadly looked down at the white floor. She was starting to think that she would never get her memory back. She was beginning to lose hope. "Will I ever get my memory back, guys?"

"Of course you will, sweetie", Rouge said. "It'll just take some more time."

"That's right", Espio added. "Everything will come back to you before you know it."

The echidna looked up and made a small smile at the two. "Thank you."

Later on that night at Razi's house, Razi, Damon, and Allan were in the basement of the house sitting around discussing about what had happened that previous evening with them and Shadow.

Damon was sitting at a small brown square table eating an apple with Razi and Allan. He took an angry chomp out of the apple. "I can't believe that hedgehog! He has a lot of nerve!"

"I know!" Razi exclaimed, "I couldn't believe he threatened us like that!"

Allan had his arms crossed while he looked at Razi and Damon across the table. "That guy was not Shadow…"

Razi and Damon gave the gray rabbit a confused look. "Huh?"

The rabbit shook his head slowly, "His smile…his laugh…his eyes…" A shiver went up his spine as he remembered the hedgehog's evil laughing. "He had the soul of some kind of demon."

Damon tossed the remainder of his apple in a trash can near him. "Allan, you're so full of shit, dude. There's no way he…" He was suddenly interrupted when he saw a black fog of smoke appear across the room. His jaw dropped when he saw a black and red male hedgehog appear within the fog. He stood from his chair and pointed at the hedgehog. "What? Where the hell did he come from?"

Allan and Razi gave the hedgehog a cold look as he approached the table and sat down with the group.

"Using the door would be nice", Allan growled.

"Calm down", the hedgehog spoke as he sat in the wooden chair. "I just stopped by to give you all a few gifts you may enjoy."

Damon sat back down in his chair and crossed his arms. "This better be good."

Shadow reached inside of his trench coat and took out a few papers. He set them down in the center of the table. "I copied some pages from that book so you can use them to gather more information on the talisman."

They all took some of the papers and glanced at them.

"Oh great", Razi said in a sarcastic tone. "You're giving us homework?"

"Well that's not all."

Razi, Damon, and Allan's mouth hung open as they saw him set three strange guns on the table.

A wide and evil smile formed on Damon's face when he saw the sight of the guns. He picked one of them up and studied them. "Now this is what I'm talking about! Firepower!"

Allan began to examine the guns as well. "Where did you get these?"

"I stole them from the armory safe", he explained. "That bat girl has made so many useful weapons, I don't think she'll notice I took them from her workshop."

The brown monkey laughed excitedly as he admired the gun, "And this is a bat girl original? Sweet!"

"Hey, Shadow" Razi held up a black and white picture of a strange four legged creature covered in fur, with a long tail, demonic eyes, razor sharp teeth and claws. "What's this thing?"

"That is called an Almas", he explained. "They're basically henchmen who serve powerful demons. They will bend to every powerful being's will to serve them. Just as myself."

"So I was right…" Allan spoke.

The hedgehog's red eyes flashed over to the gray rabbit.

"…You are some kind of demon. You somehow took over Shadow's body!"

"Well now", he spoke as he took out a cigarette, lit it and placed it in his mouth. "You really are as smart as you look."

"Wait a minute if you are some kind of demon, then how do you know us? How do you know the Chaotix?" Razi asked.

He took a puff of his cigarette. "I know everything about Shadow. His emotions, his hopes, his dreams, his fears, who he loves, and who he hates. I am the darkness that has been hiding deep within him."

"Whoa", Razi said in amazement. " I can't believe it. You're Shadow but not Shadow!"

He blew out some smoke from his mouth and smirked. "However when I find that talisman, I will become the one and only Shadow The Hedgehog and no one in this damn world will be able to stop me!"

**A/N:**

**Tikal: Oh my God!**

**Shadow: Shit...**

**Rouge: Tikal! I can explain!**

**Tikal: Why would you hide something like this?**

**Julie-Su: I never meant to hurt you...**

**Rouge: I suppose things happen for a reason...**

**Allan: Time to make our move!**


End file.
